Firelight Confessions
by LadyAlchemy
Summary: Sometimes the right setting can loosen ones tongue. What starts out as normal snarky banter between Damon and Bonnie may escalate, if they let it. Please note the change in Rating.
1. Chapter 1

*I own only the words strung together.

"I picked Caroline but I should have chosen you. Can you imagine how different our relationship could be right now Bon Bon?" Ebony winged brows arched up twice to emphasis his insinuation. It was a normal night for the fearsome duo. Bonnie curled on one side of the leather couch, feet pulled under her, cocoa cup clinched with both palms. Damon stretched out in the middle, boots on the coffee table, arms splayed out across the back of the couch, one arm gripping a crystal glass of bourbon the other hand rested just behind Bonnie, fingertips kissing the side of her neck as she faced him. The fireplace cast a romantic setting to casual observer and should someone comment such, both brunettes would deny the scene as simple circumstance.

Bonnie issued a dainty snort. "Sure, let's entertain for a moment that your vampire persuasion worked on a witch and I hadn't thought about how disgusting you were at first sight."

"Please, you have always wanted to know what it would be like to walk on the Damonside. I'm 'Older sexy danger guy.'" He stated with a wink and a smirk, much to Bonnie's chagrin.

"I cannot believe she told you that. But, Buuut that was before I knew you for the psycho you really were. I guess you are a little less so now though." She spied him for a moment over the rim of her mug.

"Admit it Bon we could have had a lot of fun and you would have _LOVED_ it. Who knows, I might have kept you around a lot longer than Blondie. I do have a bit of a type." He scanned her with piercing blue orbs that refracted the light of the crackling flames. "Oh yeh, you would have fit pretty good. Dark hair a bit too short for my taste but then it was longer at the time. Deep tinted skin and a frame short enough that I can tower over you. You do miss out on having brown eyes but I'm sure that foresty color would have grown on me."

"Is this necessary?" She was not amused.

"Oh come on, live a little. It's just a small game of what if. Course that attitude of yours would have to go." His evil smirk formed into a grin.

"Damon!" She snarled while casting daggers with her 'foresty' eyes.

"I'm sure the sex would be amazing. I mean I'm a stud in the sack and from what I remember about kinky witches …. Mm good memories!" For a moment he allowed his eyes to spark with glossy interest.

"Just what is that you're drinking?" Her pulse pounded a staccato rhythm. She was shocked at her reaction. For a solid second she let thoughts of them rolling naked on his huge California King slide into her mind. His pale skin wrapped in the black silk sheet and her mocha thighs twisted up around his creamy toned b… His chuckle snapped her out of it.

"You're thinking of it right now aren't you? Like I said, kinky witches."

She glowered at him.

"Would it shock your poor little witchy senses to say," He leaned in close and uttered in a near whisper, "I've thought about it." His face inches from her, his arm had edged over and now draped behind her back. He was crowding her personal space but if she searched her true self she didn't want an escape.

Bonnie swallowed hard though her mouth was desert dry.

What started as a passer-time for Damon was quickly becoming more serious. How had he lost control of his teasing of Bonnie? Now his pants felt tight and he could practically taste her arousal in the air. He hadn't felt like devouring a girl this much since his time with Elena. His sex drive had locked itself in and had only been numbly felt – like a phantom limb since the moment he closed the lid to Elena's casket.

The fact that it had slowly been coiling low in his stomach on rare alone moments with his little witch was not something he let himself think about for long. He'd had flings with random women but they always left him unsatisfied and cold, wonder why he bothered to try to scratch a spot that didn't actually itch. He thought if he could get back to his playboy days missing Elena wouldn't hurt so much, the need to touch Bonnie would dim if he had his hands on someone else. What a laugh. Meanwhile Bonnie had been casually talking to some college guy she had a class with, it bothered him but Damon had brushed his jealousy off as simply a need to protect his little friend. Damon swept his deepening feelings for her aside like dust settling on his imported vases. Then it became unimportant, insignificant right? It no longer mattered that the thin coating barely showed anyway until layer after layer built up and now he looked for different ways to get under her skin. She of course was oblivious to his ever growing lust and admiration, probably chalked it up to their swelling friendship.

For Bonnie's part, she just figured it was Damon's favorite intrigue to mess with her. She knew he started arguments for no other reason than to make her snap back at him. She ran with it because she would never admit that it made her feel alive. He always made every synopsis awaken and vibrate like water being stroked by a blazing fire.

"Just think I could have been the one to deflower you." He purred. "Not baby Gilbert."

"Really Damon, deflower? Look out your age is showing!"

His grunt sent a momentary shiver down her spine. His tisk tisk silenced her next words before he offered, "You couldn't have handled all of my experience. With _age_ comes practice and perfection. But it wouldn't have been his gentle prodding. I'd have broken you. You don't look like you could have withstood my righteous bed romp, you practically scream vanilla." One corner of his mouth crooked up.

"You don't know what I can handle Damon which is a shame since you have seen me fight my way back from the dead. I like a fight. I could and have taken everything you'd have thrown at me."

"Well then I'd have ruined you for any other man." He looked so cock sure that Bonnie snapped. She leaned forward and swiped the tip of her tongue nonchalantly along the seam of his titled smile. "By the time I was done you would have said Katherine and Elena who?" She growl then was off the couch and out of the room before Damon could realize his damp lips were proof that the sexually charged moment had actually happened.


	2. Chapter 2

His best friend had just licked his lips. What was the world coming to when 'Bonnie Bennett the prude' had sensually lapped at 'self-admitted reformed man-whore' Damon Salvatore's unholy mouth?

They have been doing the dance so long that she had dipped him unexpectedly. The dance had started even before his all-consuming love for Elena firmly took hold. The day long ago at her high school when he had pressed her up against her car and ran his hand down her cute frightened face was him making the opening bow, her practically yelling that he couldn't have the necklace was her way of accepting. They had been circling each other ever since. The dance stated as a blood thirsty death sentence for one of them but emerged as something greater. Sometimes the dance had been a joust - one trying to unseat the other, sometimes a fencing clash and parry of words but sometimes the dance was a tango and Damon couldn't judge which he liked best or which version of his witch was his favorite.

He had seen her morph, more chameleon than human. She could nearly kill him or be his staunch supporter and ear to gripe into. What would his life be like without Bonnie Bennett?

He didn't want to know.

Now came one hell of a decision; chase her down and reciprocate the tongue tease she had so unexpectedly given or back himself into a hole and let memories of his future life with Elena take hold, dissuade him from the here and right now. Damnit, he might as well have been buried with Elena, she was his life, his everything.

Yet, life went on and the sting he felt at shutting her away lessoned a tiny bit every day. It was thanks to his brother Stefan but mostly thanks to Bon Bon.

He would never be able to explain 'Hey while you were sleeping I shacked up with your best friend, our best friend actually, then I lost her as a friend.' Nope, better to maintain the status quo. 

How did she let Damon spur her into doing something so outrageous? Oh she knew. But it had all been just a game to him. So she played. By the looks of it with him avoiding the 'thing' that happened, she won. It's a lot to knock Damon down a peg.

She would be lying if she didn't think him attractive. Heck one of her first thoughts back then was 'How can a psycho be so gorgeous' and when she got to experience some of his layers, he became an anomaly against the old Damon that she thought she knew. What she did know was nothing would ever really happen between them.

Two weeks later the only thing that changed was the amount of times that Damon gave her the 'What ARE you?' look, it increased to the point that she would catch him doing it. His starring was something she never noticed happening before.

At three weeks his flirt behavior amplified. It was almost like his days pre-Elena's snare, when he wandered close to her trap but remain un-caged.

Meanwhile Bonnie moved forward with dating Scott and pretended to be oblivious to all the glares Damon cast at the poor sweet college kid.

Things came to a head one stormy night. The evening started innocuous enough, Bonnie in her spot, Damon with his customary glass in hand staring off into the fireplace, one would say he had taken up Stefan's frequent sport of brooding. Neither commented on the fact that every time they set thus to share an evening he was a little more and little more close to her, the spider closing in on the fly.

"Why are you with him?"

Green eye pulled up from scanning the grimoire in her lap. "Why wouldn't I be," she stated a too calmly. She didn't bother to evade knowing exactly who he was talking about.

"You know why. If you really cared you would let him walk away, you would let him walk away now. Humans are too fragile for our lives."

"I like him, he's sweet and I can't let my crazy life interfere with the progression of it."

His mouth pulled into a tight line, Damon let out a little huff. "You keep calling him sweet. That's how you describe him. Sweet is puppies and kittens, American wine, creeps in France. A man should not be sweet. Sweet won't protect him from the things that go bump in the night Bon Bon."

"Things like what Damon? He's a normal guy." Her head cocked to the side, baffled with where this conversation came from. He had yet to look at her and it was rather infuriating.

The quiet blanketed the room like a snow fall covering the ground, soft, with only the interruption of the popping fire to break the still. Finally he looked at her. Bonnie never knew a vampire could look wolfish, but right at this moment Damon did. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"Things like ME." His eyes widened like she hadn't seen them do in years. The action was sexy and demented at the same time. Air became lodge in her throat as he looked her over. His cerulean orbs stripping her in his head down to her supple brown skin. "You would spend your life protecting him and even if you would succeed... The important question is how will he protect you?'

Damon moved so fast Bonnie would have missed it had she been able to pull her wits together enough to blink. He was pinning her to the couch, one hand on the back, the other on the arm rest. The firm planes of his chest pressed into her more plush one.

Damon permitted his cheek to rest against hers as he whispered "How will he protect you from me?" She smelled so good. Since she licked him her sent had been driving him up the damn wall. It was like someone had stuck her in front of a fan and it was blowing directly at his libido. For a sheer moment he placed the tips of his fangs right above the collar bone of her neck. Damon had been in near perpetual agony for the last three weeks. She only had to be in the room with him for the ache to set in, the crazy desire to bury his hardness inside her. And he WAS hard, seemingly all the time now. If he didn't get some relief soon he was going to have to wear some looser pants. The thought of altering his wardrobe was repulsive, far better to find a more pleasurable way to ease the pain.

Bonnie squirmed under him and he scraped his teeth over her skin just enough to leave a momentary prickle. Her breathy whimper was music to his ears.

Bonnie felt hot, her skin was burning. Damon had set her blood on fire. He must have finally drove her off the deep end for her to find the tingle of his canines grazing her erotic, more sensual that anything any other man had done to her. Using his thumb he gently lifted her head up and to the side for him to nuzzle in closer. At her rushed compliance to swivel her head and the throaty moan that soon escaped her usually pursed lips Damon gave a gruff chuckle. She had turned putty in his hands and it was so heady that it went to his head. That was a mistake. Hearing his triumphant laugh Bonnie immediately stiffened under him.

"You can get up now. I'm done playing your game." Her voice was so cold the fire in the room had to battle it for temperature dominance.

So lost in her smell and the promise of her lush compact body it took Damon a moment to realize she was no longer as wrapped up in him as he was in her. "What?"

"I said get up!" She felt the channel of energy travel through her body at the same time a boom of thunder struck outside. Damon was moved twenty feet across the room.

"What the hell Bonnie?!"

She unwound herself from the couch and swiped her keys from the coffee table in jerky motions. She tried to make a getaway by fleeing outside into the pouring droplets of water. Icy fingers grabbed her by the upper arm in a non-painful but demanding grip. Spinning toward him she did what she did best, carved him up with her words. "I'm done being your diversion, your toy to play with when you're bored." The lightning raced from dark cloud to cloud above them. Little pulses of light piercing the black backdrop as her voice vented her anger. "I guess I'll never really learn. I thought at this point I meant more to you than that."

With both of his pale hands clenched around her shoulders, Damon stared down intently at her. "Of course I wouldn't do that to you Bon Bon. I would never see you as a play thing." Surprisingly her feeling that way wounded him, made him feel raw, all his protective scales stripped away. She was looking up at him, obstinate as always but hurt shining through her eyes. Soaked hair plastered from her jaw to the top of the collar bone he had been a wisp away from sampling. The disbelief he saw behind in her gaze shook him. In all his life no woman had ever been lovelier in a single moment as the pintsized witch standing drench and shivering in front of him.

"Hell with it." He grunted before gingerly cupping her face and slanting his hard cool lips over her scorching luxurious smart-mouth.

The kiss was gentle first, a subtle press of lips but when Damon slid his tongue along the seam seeking entrance Bonnie eagerly accepted. She opened to him then met his slow perusal with one of her own. For what seemed like a life time they lived in each other's mouth. At some point she had edge in closer, twining her arms around his chest, palms pressing his back to pull him closer.

She tasted the way cinnamon liquor does when it's going down, smooth, warming, addictive. Her little body pressing to him felt amazingly delightful and he couldn't help wondering how it would feel to have her wrapped completely around him in her oh so wonderfully naked glory. Pulling away from her mouth was a struggle, warring with himself over backing away or toss her over his shoulder and only letting her down when he could place her shapely bottom on his gargantuan bed was the real fight. Dragging on all his brain power he looked down at her and uttered with a sexy grin, "You're wet."

Bonnie's skin instantly flushed. Her head felt stuffed with cotton and that any moment she could float away. His kiss had knocked all sense out of her head so for that sliver of time she thought maybe he could smell her body's condition. She stared boldly up at him. "I am." She stated baldly.

Having been thinking of her saturated from the rain, her statement threw him when her meaning sank in. She had robbed him of speech and while Damon stood there dumb and unblinking Bonnie slid from his arms and into her car. When he recognized her tail lights in the distance he called himself every kind of fool for letting her get away.


	3. Chapter 3

**As always this has not been looked over by anyone but me so please forgive any mistakes. Others notes at the bottom of the work.**

Why is it Bonnie was ever only the woman who could successful set out to avoid him? Most women would get on the end of his panty melting grin and the blue flame burn of his peepers and the female will would give way to his desire. But no, not _little Miss Bennett_. He'd had to work to keep her from killing him, to be her acquaintance, work to be her friend; so why would it be any different when he wanted to make her his?

Damon was tired of waiting. He'd been waiting nearly his entire life. Wait for his father to think better of him. Wait for Katherine to turn him, waiting to free Katherine, waiting to _kill_ Katherine. Then came waiting for Elena to choose him and now waiting on Elena to wake up. Why wait on what could be, when now he sees the prospect of what can be. Elena had taught him to want to be better, for her. Bonnie made him better but she did it from inside him, subtly, craftily, from the back of his mind, from deep inside his heart. She was so graceful at it he was changing without realizing it but he was doing it for him as well as her. He wanted Bonnie, he wanted her now.

Bonnie had thought she was fearless. She had faced death, multiple times. Normal people stood at the edge of a precipice and looked over thinking they were brave while they yelled things that echoed back at them. Bonnie had always run headlong into the void. So why was she scared of her best friend?

After the kiss she had been furious. It's much easier to hide behind anger than to admit her feelings for him. The fact she had feelings was terrifying. Toss in a comatose best friend that would never understand she was having feelings for one of the 'loves of her life'. But how could Damon lay an earth-shattering kiss on her? That had been no fumbling seduction like with Jeremy or the rushed kisses of Scott. She would never admit that one Salvatore lip lock had laid waste to all other kisses that came before it. It held promise of the ruin that could come next. Worse, it brought out the over achiever in her, the fighting competitive champion always under the surface. She wanted to scorch his sheets, rob his brain of thought, fry to oblivion the reminder of every other woman he had been with. She should feel shame at wanting to blot out both names behind the face of the doppelganger - just as she had promised him she could when she had taken the bait and slapped him with her words. That was so wrong, right?

It wasn't like he hadn't gotten hot and heavy with a girl since Elena had been locked away even if later he had seemed to not even enjoy his slip ups. Damon had never been a monk. Even after having professed being in love with Elena he slept his way through women. Same with his wait for Katherine. Perhaps that is why Elena had told him to 'live' during his wait? She must have known that Damon had too much sex drive to pant like a dog for years.

None of these thoughts stopped Bonnie from wanting to have a wild night with the Elder Salvatore…or maybe twenty nights. Nearly bursting with angst she had confessed the insanity of her thought to Caroline, after swearing her to secrecy. Just what she would need, her sun-haired best friend running to tell her almost boyfriend, the brother of the man starring in all her heated fantasies that he DID play the staring roll in her XXX mental movies. It would have only been a matter of time before Stefan caved to big bad older brother's inquisition. Caroline had surprisingly been encouraging of the witch-vampire pairing.

"You don't think Elena is gonna wake up ticked at me? I somehow doubt that Care." Deleting another un-listened to voice mail and unopened text message from Damon, Bonnie settled herself farther back into the cushiony sofa at Casa De Forbes. It was her new place to hideout crash.

"You know I love Elena, Bon, but the world doesn't stop because she has been sidelined for a little bit. She knows he's not a saint. She also wants him to find some happiness." Bonnie stopped in the middle of swallowing down her red wine to look closely and her friend.

"You're serious aren't you? You really think she expected him to move on to another girl as her place holder?"

"Not necessarily a place holder but maybe a chance at something… different. You guys are good together and to be honest with you I think she already had the thought that you could become… more than friends?" She shot Bonnie a grin before popping a cube of cheddar in her mouth.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. The kiss was a fluke and I'm with Scott even if I do want to… test out Damon's skills for myself."

"But Bonnie…"

"Enough Caroline. I thought you would be excited to help me pick out this gown. I need to order it tonight or it won't get here in time for the Founders Ball and Scott will be dateless."

"Please, he should have asked you sooner. Besides leave it to me and you will be the most gorgeous gal there, even more than Moi. And you know that is a major feat!"

The week passed fairly easy as Damon's attempts at tracking down Bonnie had all but ceased. Bonnie and Scott's relationship crashed and burned but she agreed to accompany him to the Ball as friends. He had said they were both too distracted with life right now, that when he spoke to her she seemed diverted. With the nearly nightly erotic dreams of a certain blue eyed vampire Bonnie knew it was for the best. She was still going to play the smiling girlfriend to impress his peers and hopeful connections but it would be their last hurrah as a couple.

The Founders Ball was in full swing. A multitude of candelabra were lit and flickering giving the gargantuan room and elegant feel. The music and champagne flowed freely. Everyone glittered in their black tie and evening gown garb. Caroline, blond locks curled to frame her face wore a blue high color sleeveless knee length cocktail dress. Bonnie went a little more suave; her scarlet hem brushed the floor. Caroline had talked her into a plunging neckline in crushed velvet. The dress and her hair were somewhat reminiscent of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

Standing to the side of the room watching Stefan waltz Caroline around was actually pretty wonderful. Now that her friend had finally fallen prey to his charms she seemed to smile all the time. Bonnie was glad to see the both of them happy.

"Care to dance Bonnie?" A sing song voice called out. The smile immediately slid off her face and she braced herself before spinning around.

"Dancing isn't really our thing Damon." She was not prepared for his devastating evening attire. The man could fill out a tux like no other.

"We could make it our thing. If you won't give me dances at lease consider being my arm candy for the rest of this evening." His eyes raked her from head to the peep-shoe encased ruby painted toes peeking out from under the skirts of her red dress.

Although his perusal of her brought excitement and knee trembling Bonnie cleared her throat to bring herself back into focus.

"I have a date Damon." She made an attempt to infuse irritation in the statement.

"If he was smart he wouldn't have left you all alone. Where is Price Charming? He's obvious not where he's supposed to be, attached to your side before someone else snatches up his date." The corner of his mouth pulled up as he scanned the immediate vicinity and saw no sign of Scott.

"He's discussing some prospects with a big potential contact."

"Hmm. If you had bothered to respond to any of my tests or phone calls or here's an idea had actually spoken to me in person, you could have enjoyed the event with the best looking guy in the room." She looked mouthwatering and he had wanted her as his date to the event but she spoiled it by evading his every attempt to see her, talk to her, and invite her. He enjoyed Bonnie's company even when they fought. She was intriguing, irritating and entertaining but more and more lately she was arousing. He would have had a lot of fun with her and he couldn't deny secretly wanting to see her all prettied up. It was a rarity to see her dressed to the nines which was odd because there was usually some excuse to put on airs in this little town.

"There's my girl, come meet Mr. Armond Bonnie. You will excuse us Damon." Scott stood next to Bonnies arm and cupped his hand with hers. Bonnie wasn't sure who the act was for but she narrow her eyes at him before letting her herself be tugged behind him. Damon's wicked smile promised this would not be the last she saw of him this evening. He gave one last little too-da-loo wave before she disappeared into the crowd.

"What was that about Scott? That was very rude and I'm not your property. You could have given me a moment to talk to my friend." In a perfect world she and Scott would have been perfect for each other. He was only about two inches taller than she, skin tone a few shades darker. He was smart, sophisticated for his age and had ambition to advance his life. When they had first gotten together she had been fascinated by the thin mustache above his lip now she spent nights being annoyed by it and wishing she could shave it off in his sleep.

"Heh. Yea friend." Bonnie skid to a halt with an 'Are you out of your mind?!" expression marring her pretty face.

"What are you implying?"

"Why do you think I broke up with you so easy? I can see the look on your face when you talk about him and I can see with my own eyes how he looks at you. I knew it would be losing battle to try to hold on to you when you were already half in love with him." Before Bonnie could open her mouth to refute his words they were already in front of Mr. Armond so she put on her happy mask while she simmered internally.

"Looks like your quarry has gotten away brother." Stefan uttered while handing Damon a champagne flute and joining him in a lean against the wall to watch Bonnie inanely smile at her beaux.

"Only for the moment Stefan." The fizz felt great sliding down his throat. Any distraction was a good one. If he didn't get another taste of Bonnie soon he might go on a murderous rampage just like the good ol' days.

"Are you sure you want to do this? She's your best friend. And Elena's."

"You don't think I know that? You don't think I've forgotten the girl in the casket that I've sworn to forever love. I meant it when I said it. I mean it now. I will always love her. " The fury pulled his handsome face tight.

"But?" The younger Salvatore spoke softly. Stefan watched as his brothers face softened once again the moment his eyes landed back on the young witch in red.

"But I can't let her go. I can't let Bonnie go and I should feel guilty but I don't, not any more. I should feel awful that it hasn't been quite three years since we entombed Elena and already I"

"YOU, might as well be honest with yourself." Stefan interrupted. "If it's just a curiosity with Bonnie it's not fair to you or to her and you need to let her go. I somehow think it goes deeper than that."

"Is that so?" Damon asked smarmily without looking at him, eyes too busy taking in his petite beauty.

There was a moment of silence before Stefan dared to speak again.

"I'm afraid it's much worse. I think you love them both."

** Hello lovely people. A big thank you to those of you who have faved and commented. I am very pleased when what I write has an affect on people and when I get to see the affect it's a bit mind blowing. I have a feeling this story is heading into the M rating and I may have to change said rating for any future lemon(s) that may occur. If you are a reader that wants to stay with this story and the change would make you uncomfortable, let me know via message or comment and I will probably steer clear of doing that. Thank you all for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

*This chappy didn't come out as smooth as I intended, hope you still find it pleasing. I do hope you noted the change in rating, no so much for this chapter but for what is to come. Again, I don't have a beta so sorry for any mistakes. Thanks as always for reading.*

Her skin looked warm and soft against the red of the distracting dress. When he'd viewed her the first time that evening swathed in her finery, she nearly stole his breath. The normal sluggish beat of his heart sped to that of someone alive and on the world's fastest rollercoaster. How he longed to slide the material off and lick every inch of her skin, some parts repeatedly.

Stefan's parting words still buzzed in his in his ears many moments later as Bonnie moved off the floor with Scott. From his vantage point on high he had a great view of them in a semi secluded corner. Damon's grip tightened on the banister, the wood creaked under his hold. Damn, if he didn't get over the need to punch Bonnie's date he was going to have to shell out a fortune to replace the antique that was fracturing under his white knuckled grasp. Then glory of glories, Bonnie slipped away from lover boy and when Scott didn't follow, things finally fell into Damon's favor.

Bonnie was hot, furious and hot. The instant she could pull Scott to the side she assured him they were done completely. Bonnie would no longer play the doting girlfriend for his impolite self from that moment onward. She had no desire to even be friends with him after his high-handed behavior. He had offered a small apology that only somewhat mollified her and though it wasn't quite amicable they separated ways civilly. She was free to sneak out through double doors to a balcony to get some air to cool off.

After the crush of people inside and the incessant music and chatter she was surprised to find herself alone. How had no one found this little respite? What a truly lovely view. It looked down over a garden accented by Greek statues. The ivy and flowers merged into a maze low lit by pikes of fire. Giggling couples found leafy nooks to get lost in, then became lost in each other. The whole setting below was rather whimsical. Had she ever been so carefree and in love as the oblivious people below fervidly chasing one another?

"One of these days you are going to learn that you can't run from me. Or is this all a ploy to get me alone?" Damon saddled up beside her with a condescending grin

"Contrary to the voices inside your head, not everything revolves around you." Bonnie smiled saccharine sweet back at him.

"Fair enough." He issued with a small shrug. "But Caterpillar lip should not have left you all by your lonesome."

Bonnie burst out into a fit of laughter and to Damon it was both insulting that she thought 'boy toy' should not be worried of losing his girl and sexy as hell that he was responsible for the bell of her laugh. Guess that was just his kind of kink.

"You can't tell me that he's not intimidated by me, that he doesn't sweat leaving his best girl unprotected with someone who looks…" His eyes caressed her up and down in slow detail "and thinks like me."

Bonnie's skin felt scorched from his burning perusal and the laughter died in her throat. Even though it was fairly dim out in the night his silvery eyes managed to catch the loving light and heat of the torches below and the flicker of the wrought-iron sconces on opposite sides of the double doors that led out onto the spacious balcony. Bonnie fought to get back to the subject and think less on how elegant and dashing Damon looked in his evening wear.

"It's not that, it's just I often think of shaving it off him while he sleeps." It was Damon's turn to let loose a full chested roar of guffaws and Bonnie wasn't sure she had ever heard him let go like that before. His grin could have been world-renowned. His variation from evil chuckle to amused humps was well documented in her internal Damon vocabulary log. Nothing had ever been this unrestricted, this free and she had gotten to see him with the love of his life. It enraptured her.

"Bonnie 'Mustache Killer' Bennet has a good ring to it." He issued with an endearing smirk.

"Hardy har har." His smile was infectious; she offered one of her own. She had missed this, missed their close friendship with inane talk and banter.

"What? I thought it sounded pretty vicious. Watch your facial hair boys, the witch has sharp scissors and she will use them when can't defend yourself." There went the eyebrow lift, one ebony wing arching up in the 'am I right or am I right?' display. It did things to her; she let loose a small shiver. His hands were immediately rubbing up and down her arms. Her skin instantly prickled from his touch.

"You're cold." He pried off his jacket and wrapped her up in it before she could protest. His heat and sent cocooned her, it was heady and thrilling. Under the expensive musk cologne was an aroma wholly and undeniably him.

"Such a gentlemen. Didn't know you had it in you." She mumbled softly.

"I don't. I'm about thirty seconds from pushing you into that wall and making you scream my name so loud the idiots playing hide and seek in the shrubs below will know exactly who's responsible for making you go hoarse."

Bonnie shot a hostile glare at him. "Very funny Dam…"

In a blink she was pressed between the solid wall and Damon's hard body. The sputtering glass encased sconce cast a shadow over his chiseled face and made his smoothed coif look inky blue black.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" He gave her no time to answer. His firm mouth smothered her. She was drowning in his kiss. All thought of stopping this mistake flew out of her head the moment his hot mouth peppered kisses on her forehead, cheeks and nose, rounded chin and on her closed eyes. His lips were soft on her upturned face almost loving but when they moved down her neck to the tops of her plump beasts peeking out from among the bodice of ruby velvet, the touch of his mouth was more demanding. He left moist partially open mouth kisses to mark her supple skin.

Bonnie pressed her palms to his chest to push him back but instead jerked his white tux shirt up from his pant so she could slide under it to get to his smooth skin. When she finally got her fingers on him they both gave a mutual gratified moan. She grazed a fingernail lightly over his nipple. He pressed his hips into her and she could feel the full outline of his hard length firm against her flat stomach. That brought a shock of fierce need all through Bonnie's tiny frame.

Damon could hear the roar of Bonnie's blood under her silky skin; could smell the sweet nectar just a puncture of teeth away. When the bouquet of her floral perfume fused with the zesty hints of arousal he fought down the intense desire to sink his fangs in and revel in her essence and luxurious flavor. He let himself nip at her skin playfully instead. He couldn't remember the last time he felt such painful hardness for a woman. She was just so soft, so yielding and her nails delicately scraping at his skin, her fevered return of his kisses made him feel like he had been on a three week blood binge. Hell, her skin felt amazing against his tongue and if she kept making those freeking breathy noises like that he was going to rip her clothes off right here just feet away from the waltzing socialites behind closed doors.

Bonnie couldn't breathe, didn't want to, if she inhaled the moment would pass and time would move forward. She wanted to hold the rushing feelings, the scent and feel of this moment for as long as she could. Damon sent a sharp nip to the same spot on her neck that he had ravaged so many years ago. Bonnie let lose an enthusiastic growl, amazed that she could feel such excitement after that encounter and the many more that came between them. Their history merely heighted the cacophony of emotions that she felt toward him. All of it boiled down to trust, affection, lust and love.

She was kissing right above the collar of his starched shirt, licking the divot of his neck. Her hands rounded to his back and she gripped, rubbed and pulled him close. When her nails bit into his flesh, leaving little crescent marks in his hide then tauntingly raked down she heard Damon make a muttered curse, felt his hand find the curves of her apple bottom. He lifted her up against the wall, her legs parted of their own volition and he nudged his pelvis right against her sweet spot. Her thin panties and his slacks were all that separated her wet fold from his thick stiff member. They rocked against each other needing to be so much closer. Tongues fused mimicking the desire to replicate the same sucking and stroking motion with other parts of their bodies.

Damon was nearly in heaven, had to be right on the edge. He cupped each perfectly round cheek as he used the wall behind her for leverage to push his swollen appendage against Bonnie's heat. He knew she was wet and he was sorely tempted to move a hand between her creamy thighs to find out just how soaked she was. He just didn't want to pull his crotch far enough away to wedge his hand between them, even if her locked ankles now clinching behind his waist would let him.

"UHmm UHmm. "

Scott cleared his throat. "I came to talk to Bonnie if you two can stop dry humping long enough to realize this is not the time or place and how much of a betrayal this is to me. I can't bel…" The tightly wound rubber band inside of Damon snapped. One moment he was dreaming about how good it was going to be to get inside his little witch and the next this annoying gnat was droning on and on and had the nerve to interrupt the near bliss he had found in Bonnie's arms. Damon's game face was on as he lowered Bonnie gently down his body then pinned the interloper hard against the door with a steely pale hand around his throat.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now. Never come between a vampire and what's his." Scott nearly peed himself. The oxygen was waning and he was close to the point of blacking out.

Bonnie made the stumbling steps it took to lay her crimson tipped fingers on Damon's shoulder.

"Let him go Damon. And scrub his memory then leave us to talk."

"But Bonnie.." he whined.

"I mean it."

"Fine! "He bit off, "But this isn't over Bon-Knee." he over enunciated at her before explaining to Scott that he was just walking outside as Damon was leaving. Damon gave one last leisurely smoldering scan over her hot little compact body before abandoning her to her idiot of a boyfriend.


	5. Chapter 5

**Considering this chapter is almost double of the others please forgive any extra mistakes. I wanted it posted two days ago but it was a struggle because it kind of grew far past what I anticipated. That said I hope you like I anyways. I am honored with all your favorites and comments. Thank you for them. :)**

Bonnie padded around her house shoes in hand, lighting candles and incense for calm while Caroline rattled off through the phone wedged between Bonnie's shoulder and ear. She stopped in her bedroom and lit the set of four multi colored candles her grams had given her, one placed in all corners of the room to represent the elements. Toddling back to the living room she finished up the few votives in there.

"You didn't have to go home alone Bon. Stefan and I could have taken you. Or Damon."

"That's what I was afraid of. After having it out with Scott and the crazed fondling between Damn and I, I just needed some alone time. Besides I took some perverse satisfaction that I snatched the limo and Scott is going to have to find is own ride home."

Caroline giggled in her ear. "I'm so proud of you. It's a good thing. Maybe Damon is rubbing off on you or just on you." More tinkling giggles sounded their way over the classical music bleeding through the phone.

"You have obviously had too much to drink." The green eyed witch teased.

"To borrow a phrase from a certain blue eyed devil, 'Not nearly enough!' I would be fine with ditching the champagne if you need a good friend to cry on." Sincerity cloaked the savvy blond's bubbly voice.

"I would never dare to pull you away from a spectacular looking Salvatore."

"Did I ever tell you that you're my fav? Speaking of Salvatore men, I don't believe I'm going to say this but you owe me details later. From the tiny bit you gave me it sounds like one of those smut books we 'borrowed' from under my mom's bed to read when we were little." Bonnie laughingly lit the last candle that set the living room with a soothing glow.

"It was hardly that. Ok maybe a little like that." They shared girlish peals of laughter. "But I'll talk to you about it later; get back to your party."

"Ok ok but don't forget you OWE me!"

"Fine Care I won't."

"And Bonnie."

"Yeh Care?"

"I love you. It's good to hear you happy. Damon… seems good for you."

Avoiding the Damon part of the comment Bonnie added. "I love you too Care and I want to see you happy. I'm glad you're finally letting Stefan in." There was a sweet silence between them.

"Nite Care."

"Nite Bon."

Bonnie meandered over to the couch pulling the pins out of her up-do. After plopping her shoes on the coffee table she slunk down onto the couch. The tomb like silence had moments of 'too' still, unnerving her. Thankfully the few moments with her longtime friend had been like a balm to her sole. Running fingers absentmindedly through the freed dark strands she remarked that it was about time to get a shorter cut again. Without the lift and curl pulling up the weight of the mahogany tresses, the strands now hung a little below her shoulders. It would probably appeal to Damon with the longer length. What a silly thought.

The cozy lighting and air infused jasmine helped to relax her a little more than was necessary. She needed to shower and go to bed before passing out still dressed on the downstairs settee. Would it really be so bad to just take a small nap, just a little one to revive her long enough to get clean and climb the stairs to her room?

A loud knock on the door brought a startling halt to the mind numbing lethargy that had eased around her. She sluggishly headed for the door hoping it would be Caroline and not a teed off Scott.

Damon lounged against the door frame clad in dark blue jeans, white t-shirt and signature leather coat. With his elbow bent and stance the view was very much like an old James Dean photograph - casual, sexy and unrepentant.

There was no smile on his face. No cocky babble. "Invite me in."

Bonnie stood there and owlishly blinked up at him.

"Let me in Bonnie."

There was a dark caress in his voice. Her knees shook a little as she backed up and open the door wider.

"Come in Damon." Even then a smile didn't break over his face; it was all granite angles and hollows kissed by the night.

"I told you this wasn't over. Didn't you believe me?" He hadn't moved from the plane of the door. His eyes raked over her like the best perfectly aged bottle of bourbon, gift wrapped and seemingly ready for his lips to touch, his body to engulf.

Bonnie took another step back releasing the door handle and fighting the tremble in her legs. She made the mistake of inhaling to calm her nerves; it drew his eyes to the rise and swell of her delectably displayed bosom.

He moved deliberately slow, pacing deceptively lazy into the house like he had been there many times. The moment his hand slipped into her hair he shut the door with a well-placed back swipe of his boot covered foot.

His kiss was precise, thorough, indulgent. He made it seem like he had no other desire then to indolently sup from her mouth. In actuality Damon's blood zinged through his veins, his body came alive just to touch her. He had been on a slow boil since he had left her on the balcony with what's his face. Tasting her had been too much and not enough. It left him jittery like supposedly crack fiends are to feel. He had been sidelined by Caroline grilling him about his 'intentions'. She was lucky he hadn't snapped the annoying golden haired pup's neck in front of everyone, including his smitten brother. However, Caroline was useful for some things. She had gotten a text from Bonnie saying she was on her way home (which she read out loud.) Fury had mixed with need when his quarry had managed to evade him.

He had driven home like a bat out of hell contemplating everything. He really was becoming Stefan. His mind rolled over the fact that she had a boyfriend buuut that never stopped him before, the fact that she was a friend, his best friend? He still wanted her. The fact that Elena lay sleeping - he still wanted, no, needed Bonnie. She had made her voice become his conscience, her smile his happiness and her body made it so that he had rubbed a hole right through the silk of his boxers. How had he never really noticed until recently that she was a walking wet dream?

Little sparks of pleasure throbbed from the brush of his fingers against her scalp and in the gentle tugging tangle of her hair. She moaned deep in the back of her throat. His other arm drew her nearer, pressing her full against him as he lowered his head and arced his chest to meet her short stature.

Bonnie slid her hands over the cotton of his tee. She reached where it met up with his jacket and she sloughed it off his shoulders and down his back. He released her just long enough for the well-loved signature accoutrement to plunk down to the floor.

Damon growled her name against her lips and he felt the plush cupid's bow of her mouth form a smile before he plundered those recesses again. Grabbing her by the pert round ass he lifted her and carried her up the stairs. Her legs locked around him, her fingers buried in his ebony locks, Bonnie knew she was lost.

He didn't set her down until they were two feet from her bed. He broke their kiss to slide off her dress, baring her down to the matching red lace bra, panties and garter underneath.

A wicked grin highlighted his face.

"How did you know where my room was?" She offered. Any excuse was good to distract from her near nudity.

Damon gave a rough grunt, frustration evident in the noise. "Do you really want to talk about my creepy ways at THIS particular moment?"

"I… don't want to talk at all." Bonnie tugged the shirt over his heads, found a way to unbuckle his belt before he entirely realized that Bonnie Bennett was stripping _**him.**_ Before he could ponder it much she had a hand down his pants, fingers flexing possessively around his cock. It racked his body with unexpected pleasure, his lips parted on a strangled moan.

He couldn't, wouldn't, take his time like he'd intended. He was too far gone as the pad of her pointer swiped over the leaking head on an upward stroke from her soft grip. In a blink both were picked her up, dropped her gingerly on the bed before following down with a pained smile. Bonnie had the nerve to giggle. Damon had the nerve to join her in it. Instead of the humor defusing the sexual tension it simply wrenched it up another degree. The laughter tapered off. Damon ran the pad of his thumb over her still crimson painted smile. She teasingly sunk her teeth against the flesh of it. A gasp trapped tight in his lungs as Damon rolled over her, tongue seeking out to latch on one turgid nipple, then the other. His hips fit snuggly between her split thighs. Both of his pale hands splayed over the bronze skin, holding each delectable globe still for his methodical ravishment. His cool tongue on her heated skin made Bonnie squirm.

She slid one smooth leg up and down the side of his calve and thigh while watching him through half lidded eyes. She struggled and failed to hold back the little mewling noises triggered by Damon's lavish attention. Bonnie shifted under him just enough that his tip bumped against her wet slick cleft. Damon's answering grunt let her know that he was much like her, holding on by a thread. So like a good little witch or a wicked one, she did it again. The crown of his cock aided by the personal lubrication of her lust nestled right against her welcoming nether lips. Damon froze; his head landed between Bonnies impertinent breasts. Eyes pinched tight he spoke through clenched teeth. "If you don't stop I'm going to lose my finesse." The heat in his gruff voice sent a tiny shiver racing up her spine.

"Well we wouldn't want that now would we?" She purred with a feline taunt.

She could feel the answering smirk pressed to the skin of her chest before his fingers found their way to her cinched waist, glided over her hips, skimmed her athletic thighs then cupped the underside of her knees. He gave her a bit of an adjustment. His seven or so thick inches poised right at her entrance. Bonnie gulped a bit of air, all hilarity lost. His left hand came free of her knee, moved between her sopping pussy lips, testing her wetness. She was obviously more than ready. Using her juice he stroked his cock, bathing himself in her essence to make sure that there was nothing but toe curling pleasure to come. Having both tortured and slicked himself to be ready, he finally lifted his head . One last chance for her to change her mind and keep running. One last moment for him to finagle out of the situation, to watch her flee. He would eventually chase her down again. Subconsciously he knew if Bonnie pulled back now it would break him. He would gladly offer up his brain for her to fry so he could escape the pain her rejection would inflict on him.

Bonnie was wound tight. If he didn't slide home soon she was going to flip him over and take what she wanted, needed so desperately. The obstruction of his pause set her teeth on edge. He was staring her down, green eyes and blue battled, both daring the other to look away first. There was no one Bonnie would battle more than Damon, no one Bonnie would battle more _for_ than Damon.

She loved him. Heaven, Hecate, whoever else help her, she did. The thought made her frantic. She clamped onto his shoulders swiftly and arched up into him.

Damon's relief soon gave away to euphoria then burning fervor. Keeping her eyes locked with his he slowly plunged into his Bonnie. His little Bon Bon was tight, silken, wonderfully scalding hot. Her intensity through her foresty gaze left him shaken. He was gratified to know she wanted to see him, know it was him.

Bonnie barely blinked, refusing to miss a moment of the possession his crystal gaze shined out at her. He was as hard as velvet wrapped in iron. And no way in hell was she looking away. When he bottomed out, hard pelvis to soft pelvis, both let out a ferocious cry of bliss. He stopped moving to let her body relax to accommodate his girth. He figured when her pointy heals dug high on his ass she was good to go.

On his next stroke Bonnie lost her will to keep her eyes open, the feeling was too sublime. Damon gave her a steady and deep pace that made her eyes roll back into her head. Not to be outdone Bonnie clinched her thighs tight and bucked up in time against him. He plowed into her, hitting all the right spots.

Damon upped the ante, groping her hips he lifter her enough that each push in hit her g-spot.

But Bonnie played to win. She folded up around him, nails sinking in and scoring down his back. Then began the kegel squeezes. Each integral flutter of her walls sent Damon cussing against her neck. Every one of his words were sinful yet complementary. He kept his face buried against the warm crook of her neck; he refused to show her the black veins surrounding his eyes. Each little bite of her manicure into him felt amazing but hell every time she pulsed around him he had to force down his release. No woman had worked his body over like that since he had been a human, a callow youth. With every thrust he could feel her core tighten, she was going to come soon, he just had to push her a little farther. The muddled sobs falling from her ruby mouth made it nearly impossible to hold out. It was a fight he had to win. It made him immensely happy that he was churning her up just as much as she was blowing his mind. He picked up the pace, started powering into her. Her response was to yell his name over and over. Apparently Bonnie liked it a little rough. The slight savagery was enough to shove his vamp face away so he could take her mouth again.

Bonnie was so close. Nothing had made her feel like this, tied up tight and yet so free. She had found a sort of Utopia but she wasn't going to fall into the border all alone. Compressing down on him as much as her inner muscles would allow, she rode the waves that were quickly cresting against every cell of her body. Finally they swept up over and all through her. Damon had the stamina for two more thrusts to prolong her orgasm before his balls drew up tight and he filled her up with his essence. He whispered her name like a prayer.

Small quivers vibrated through conjoined bodies, panting the only sound in the room. Damon contemplated the heavy silence that soon fell, braced for the uncomfortable talk he knew was on its way. What he got was Bonnie stretching languidly under him, peering solemnly up at him.

"You have ten minutes..to get…..ready for round two."

Damon smothered their mutual laughter with quick kisses.

"Who says I need ten minutes?"

She made a crack about his age then laughed some more.

Until Damon's intense thrust turned the amusement into needy wails.

Bonnie woke the next morning to stiff complaining muscles, sand paper eyes and a man's arm slung over her hip keeping her flush against his chest. She tensed, remembering what had transpired the following night. A speedy delicate glance at the clock stated it was 5:34am. No wonder she was so very sleepy. Although the siren song of the bed and the comfort of Damon's warmth called to her she pondered the best way to sneak out.

A tentative leg nudged toward the edge of the bed.

"Hmm. Ready for round six?" His arm constricted tighter.

"How long have you been awake!?" She grouched.

"Heh me? I've just patiently been waiting for the next bell to ring." He nuzzled his nose into the crown of her hair. "No woman has come around this quickly before." His hand roamed over the curve of her hip, desperately seeking the 'v' of her thighs.

"Damon I don't think…"

"That's right Bon Bon." Fingers crept closer still, "Don't think," one slender digit found its way to the already moistening destination, "Just feel." Knowing she wouldn't be as wet as he wanted as soon as he wanted, his smirking lips soon followed the trail of his hand so he could lick greedily as her swollen lips and clit…

Sometimes vampire hearing was great. Right now with a lush cuddly Bonnie Bennett curled up beside him, Damon loathed his abilities. His phone was buzzing repeatedly in his pants pocket and it hadn't stopped going off for a good fifteen minutes. Figuring it must be hellishly important he regretfully crawled out of bed. Pausing to spy Bonnie's slumbering form Damon took a moment to admire the pintsized beauty.

Aggravated he clutched the phone, recognizing his brother's name flashing on the screen. "What?" he snarled quietly, not wanting to leave the room unless he absolutely had to. He didn't want to leave his lovely witch.

"Are you listening to me?" Stefan whined.

"Not really. Couldn't whatever it is wait until a more manageable hour?"

"Damon it's one in the afternoon. Besides this can't wait. Are you coming?"

"Where?"

"For the second time, the Mystic Grill. I've got…"

Damon was happy to watch the peaceful rise and fall of Bonnie chest while Stefan droned on in the background. The sheet was seconds away from sliding off and exposing one tempting nipple.

"Unbeieveable!"

"Yeh?" Damon issued distractedly.

"I just told you that I've finally found a lead on someone who might be able to revive Elena and you can't give me your full attention?"

"Sorry… Yea I'm on my way. But Stefan do me a favor. Don't tell Bonnie." He pressed the end button and hurriedly got dressed.

Out of the thoughts swirling around one rang out. Bonnie as always had been true to her word.

He found notebook paper on her dresser and sketched a quick note, left it folded on his unoccupied pillow. He did something he had once never expected to come to pass, walked away from Bonnie with conflicted heavy steps.

The next time Bonnie woke up she was alone. It bothered her more than she expected. Pivoting so she could do something ridiculous, she tugged the pillow he had used close so she could catch the last traces of his scent. That was when she noticed the creased paper lingering in his head print.

His masculine script stood bold and stark against the white backdrop of the notebook. One line graced the page.

'Kathrine and Elena who?'


	6. Chapter 6

** Dropping to chappies tonight. Happy reading!*

There were no 'avoiding' attempts between them but at no time did they allow themselves to be alone, together. There was none of the standard late night binge Netflix watching or the common casual evenings where Bonnie parked herself on the Boarding House couch to read while Damon sipped bourbon and strategically and exasperatingly interrupted her with conversation. There were still instances when their paths crossed and lingered.

First Stefan mysteriously attained a unique antique grimoir that Bonnie could only study in his presence. That was strange even for him but having invested in systematically learning her magic she complied without complaint.

Damon made himself a permanent fixture in her studding session – sighting he knew quite a bit about witches, even slept with some!

"One in particular was most memorable. She was amazing in the…"

"I don't want to hear about your disgusting exploits of yester year conquests." She cast a circumspect glace at Stefan then shot a censoring tight lipped grimace back at Damon.

"But it's still so fresh in my mind, like it was just _days_ ago." His voice dripped with insinuation and he batted mocking blue eyes at her. "Mmmmm this one was so good I can still hear her screaming my name during round six. She was thi.. Euhhh!" The glib comment ended on a pained cry as Bonnie stood up from the library love seat and slammed shut the delicate front cover barring an intricate carving of roaring bonfire displayed on the grimoire. She scooted past the vampire bent over clutching his head and slapped the velum leather bound book hard against Stefan's sternum.

"I'll come back some other time."

The intense pain left Damon's temple at the extreme closing of the door. Stefan's chest rumbled with laughter.

"You shouldn't have talked to her like that. You kissed her then talked about some other girl warming your bed."

Damon sounded a non-committal humph.

Stefan grew somber. "It's been three days since we got the lead on Elena. You haven't told her yet have you?"

"One ancient grimoire and some shady guy talking about some secret coven with roots in Ireland doesn't impress me much. How did you even fid this guy anyway?" Damon stomped to Bonnie vacated spot on the sofa. He could smell her in the air, he lounged back soaking up her remaining heat.

"It's not a coven, they're druids."

"Whatever Stefan."

"Bonnie actually gave me the idea. Just like the rest of us she hasn't stop thinking about how to bring back Elena. I guess she had been doing some reflecting on her life, thought about Expression being a different form of magic. She wondered if opposing magic would have an effect or not on the spell so I have a few contacts from my past and I asked them to check into other magics. It took a few months and one of the druids got back to me. This magic conundrum piqued some interest among their ranks. Apparently Bennett witches are semi famous in Druidry. As a show of respect and to ingrate himself he offered to let us borrow some of the knowledge they have compiled. Some of his sect is specialized in in preserving any form of spells or magic."

Silence permeated the room.

"I thought you'd be happier." Stefan continued.

"Yeh well forgive me if I don't hold my breath. I'm sure if there were a way to bring her back outside of… We'll we'd have found it by now."

"So this is about Bonnie." Stefan pressed.

Quick flips of the writs belied Damon's agitation. "I don't like you psychoanalyzing me. This discussion is over. Somewhere in this town is a bottle with my name on it."

"I'm sure you have plenty here."

Damon gave his brother an almost unfriendly thump on the back and a pinched lip smile. "That's that problem. It's too here."

A few minutes after Damon stomped out of the boarding house Bonnie received a text.

Damon: Didn't anyone teach you foreplay doesn't have to hurt?

Although she smiled, she didn't respond.

Days later there was a meeting of the Scooby gang. Apparently Matt had been finding signs of a rogue ripper dipping into the Mystic Falls walking blood supply. Crazy psycho had a preference for dark haired pint sized beauties. Matt had done his best to keep the three deaths out of the ears of the public but he was seeking help on a solution to the baddie problem.

"It's a perfect plan. I'll walk down the next road he's probably going to frequent. I'm hardly a helpless damsel. My tracking spell isn't working. I don't have enough of a connection with the murderer. Something needs to be done." Bonnie touted from her set in a recliner.

"No." Damon denied adamantly from his perch on the arm rest of her chair.

"I donno Bon the thought of you out there makes me really uncomfortable." Caroline cuddled closer to Stefan for comfort.

"If she wants to do it I think I think she should. She meets the criteria." Stefan offered.

"Stefan!" Caroline wacked him abruptly in the chest before settling back against him.

Stefan winced. "What? It's not like we are going to leave her to do it all alone. We will camp out a few miles away. Besides she is a very capable witch."

"But she is also human." Matt argued from his stance in the middle of the room.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." Bonnie grumbled.

"We're just a little worried. We can't be very close to you or he'll know by smell or sound." Caroline bat pleading puppy eyes at her. "Let's come up with another way."

"There is no other way. You heard Matt, this guy strikes at night each time on a deserted road. It's never a house or a building and it's always close to a wooded area. He nabs hikers or lures woman out of their cars and if he's keeping to his every other day pattern he's going to kill someone again tonight. It's going to be one of the country roads and if they set up patrols we are going to miss our chance. The other two county roads that he hasn't hit will have undercover officers driving them but from what Matt has been saying we should take the most likely of the three. We are better equipped to deal with this." Bonnie insisted.

"How are you going to explain being easy prey? You aren't the hiker type and no woman in her right mind would walk down a wooded road at night. Hmm maybe it's because if you go a long with this you will prove what I have always suspected – that you aren't in your right mind?" There was the Damon snark as he peered snidely down at her.

"I've thought about that." Stefan interrupted Damon's mini tirade.

"Savior Salvatore to the rescue. Enlighten us Saint Stefan on how we are going to place Bonnie in danger. Again." His leather jacket pulled tight as Damon crossed his arms over his chest.

"She is going to be traveling the road with her 'boyfriend' amidst an argument one of them demands for her to get out and walk home."

"I'll play the boyfriend." Matt volunteered.

"Like hell." Damon jumped from the couch and closed the distance to Matt. Despite the words there was little malice imbedded in them. "No one would believe you could land a girl like Bonnie and you can barely fight your way out of a paper bag." He gave a quick glance back at the girl in question before sending a sarcastic glare back at the All-American boy. "Bonnie would take a verbal bite out of you and you would cry and apologize to her for whatever _she_ did wrong. Look I'm not saying you haven't become a little bit tougher than you use to be but your bullets even dipped in vervain won't benefit you much."

"Fine." Matt fired back. "Why don't you do it?"

"Like it would be anyone else!"

Fighting back a smile Stefan offered. "I'm sure Caroline wouldn't mind. I could do it." Before Stefan could finish his sentence Damon cut him off with an "As if."

Not understanding all the tension in the room Bonnie did her best to defuse the situation. "Matt, you need to be there with your people. They can only benefit in having you be there."

"Now that that's settled I'll pick you up at six-thirty. We'll go to the movies. We'll be heading back for dinner when we get into our fight so none of your normal Bonnie wear. Remember you're on a date with Damon Salvatore, eternal stud, so dress appropriately." Before Bonnie could snipe back at him he added "You never know who's watching." He shot her a wink.

Feeling like he just won something precious without having to struggle to get it for once, he strutted from the room.

Damon arrived at the Bennett household at six-fifteen. He wasn't normally so punctual but daydreaming about what the little witch was going to wear brought on an anticipation that nearly choked him. He wouldn't put it past her to be defiant enough to go on their 'date' in jeans, a t-shirt and tennis shoes. Not that she didn't look adorable in that but considering the dire situation he figured she would do her best to look the part. His parting shot earlier that day was intended to steer her that way. He was liable to be over dressed. He had traded in his jeans for ebony slacks, t-shirt for a slate hued dress shirt that was gapped at the collar, leather jacket for a black blazer and his old trusty boots changed places with a pair of grey wrinkled swayed ones. The effect was, of course, very GQ.

The door swung open at his knock to reveal… Caroline.

"I'm here to crash your party." She offered with a devious smile. "You need to drop me off at the 'Auto-Shoppe' I had to take my car in to get it fixed." Damon's brows drew up and she offered him a cheeky shrug before letting him in.

"Bonnie, Damon's here!" The blond chimed out.

"It's ok, I'm ready." She began her decent down the stairs clad in a maxi dress with vertical stripes in alternating silver and black. She gave Damon a speedy appraising glance. "It looks like we planned this."

"Maybe you guys can pose for me and we can do a version of 'Who wore it best?' I have to warn you tho, my vote goes to Bonnie."

"Hey the deck is stacked against me but it's alright. I concede."

Uncomfortable with how Damon was looking Bonnie over Caroline stepped between them.

"Alright people chop chop you have movies and bickering to do and I need to get on the other side of town."

Bonnie had been relieved when Caroline had volunteered to take up post on the opposite side of town. It gave her an excuse to put some space between her and her faux date. The girl talk monopolized the conversation but she kept sneaking covert glances at the sharply dressed vampire. She was allowed. She knew every inch of his sculpted body underneath all the finery. It had only been a little over a week since their frenzied night of sweaty, clawing, cussing, exquisite body joining and she had dreamt about it every night since. She wasn't scared of Damon; she was scared of what she would do to Damon if she were alone with him.

They dropped Caroline off at the Auto-Plex and she whispered to Bonnie that she would be there to have her back. The friendship between them had become sweeter and more cherished, deeper. It's amazing how relationships can be nurtured when you don't spend every waking hour bending over backwards risking life and limb for one person.

Arriving ten minutes early gave them enough time to hit up the concessions stand for Bonnie. Damon was content to swipe popcorn from her and nab sips from her soda.

Once the movie had ended Bonnie couldn't remember anything about what they had watched. She had been too hyper sensitive to the raven haired bad boy sitting beside her. She had tramped down the desire to rub her knee against his leg. To make it an innocent brush between them.

Damon was just as guilty. He had found himself scooting as near her as his seat would allow, he had even slung an arm behind her head. He'd wanted to wrap himself up in her heat. The theater had been freezing so the perfumed feminine warmth of her slight form had seemed even more tempting. It had sent a shock of contentment through him when she had laid her head back to rest her neck on his arm.

The walk to the car was pensive. The drive conversation stilted with aborted attempts to make small talk. It was time for Damon to do what he did best, strike a match and light the judgy little witch's fury up.

"Would it kill you to put on something like other normal women? Every time we go out you're wrapped up like a grandma. This dress is… nice but really Bon Bon, can't you show a little leg. Some of the decent rack I know you have under there. No one will believe I'm dating such a prude."

It took a moment for the confused shock to register into clarity.

"It goes both ways Damon. Who would believe I was having a tryst with someone so unrepentantly unethically reprehensible."

"I'm done Bonnie. I can't handle. Can't deal with this anymore." There was a crazy gleam behind his eyes to let her know he was having a lot of fun verbally sparing with her for no reason.

"No, I'm done. Let me out right now."

"Are you out of your mind? I'm not letting you out in the middle of nowhere no matter how mad I am at you." There was a stubborn tilt to his chin and Bonnie suspected he meant what he said, that he wasn't going to follow through with the plan.

"Damon." She issued warningly.

"Don't make me do this." It was spoken too soft, almost pleadingly.

"If you don't stop the car I'm going to jump out." There was a backbone in her words. Both knew she wasn't crazy enough to actually jump from a moving car but it was a reminder that she had a job to do and one way or another she was going to do it.

The breaks silently slowed the blue Camaro and she hopped out of the car with a slam of the door.

"Damnit Bonnie!" Unlike the other words that were said during the car ride, that sentence had a full wealth of meaning behind it.

Bonnie watched the red break lights of the car ripping down the road in front of her. Keeping up appearances she cussed the car as it haphazardly drove away and she trudgingly stomped behind it. She lamented out load over the fact that she had to wear heals on a night where she would be hoofing it three miles to town. While walking she took the time to call Caroline and get no answer (as planed) and left a long voice mail begging her friend to get the message and come pick her up. She followed with two more calls one to Matt who also didn't answer and one to Stefan where he stated he would be happy to come get her except he was half way to New Orleans and she would be able to walk home quicker than he could get to her.

Thirty-two minutes later she called Caroline's number again to leave a message. Toward the end of her pleading Bonnie caught a whiff of a delightful scent. The more she walked down the road, the more potent the smell. The potpourri was implacable, unlike anything she had inhaled before, it even smelled better than the expensive stuff worn by Damon. The heady odor made walking in her heals even harder as it made her head swim. Her legs felt weighted down, each step was slumberous.

"The gods must have smiled on me." The voice was lovely, soothing beguiling. Bonnie knew she should have felt fear but she couldn't drum up any alarm. She pivoted to greet the owner of the angel like voice.

"You're perfect. I've never seen a more perfect creature." The man before her was stunning. His halo of blond hair easily picked up the faded light of the crescent moon in the sky. Caroline would be envious of the silvery blond locks. His aquiline nose fit perfectly above sensual lips, smoky grey eyes peered deep in her soul as he insouciantly closed the distance between them.

"You don't happen to have a car do you? It's been a really bad night and I could use a ride." Bonnie was proud that she kept the shiver out of her voice. Actually, each word she spoke cleared her mind a little more. Her voice had come out firm and matter of fact. This guy might look like a golden fallen angel but she had spent years dealing with the dark haired variety.

The mystery man cocked his head to the side surprised that she'd spoken to him. His lips curled up in the corner. "You are a delight. Such will power. I can feel you breaking free of my hold. I'm afraid I can't allow that." The cloying sent thickened, turned soupy as it clung to her lungs.

"What are you?" She gasped out.

"What I am doesn't matter as much as what I was or who I will be. Which thanks to you, will be you. You are so very close. You have to be the answer. Imagine my luck to find you abandoned on the side of the road. That boyfriend of yours is hot but a bit of a dick. I guess you stay with him for his looks?" Bonnie didn't answer. The Adonis was just out of arm's length now. "No matter. Maybe I can find out what hidden layers he has when I become you." He blinked down at Bonnie in a captivated manor much like a child would stare at a unicorn. "After all this time you do exist. 'Go forth to Falls of Sorcery eighty years hence and seek a near reflection of by gone day. She of shorten stature and dark of looks will be the key to break your curse.' I can recite it in my sleep. Can you believe that non-sense? I hate witches. Get on the bad side of one guy, who wasn't even great in bed and your doomed to try and find a needle in a hay stack to find a cure. You're a very pretty needle at least. Almost as pretty as I use to be."

The man-thing was obviously insane, he was scary gorgeous. But even if his story made sense and he hadn't come off as a demented escapee from a mental hospital, she would have known something was off due to his potent intoxicating smell. It was time to put an end to this before he got over his mystification of her and decided to carve her up like his other victims. Speaking through the aromatic fluid clogging her chest she chanted some quick Latin under her breath. Her gurgling words froze his body in place.

"Witch." He gritted out through clinched teeth; little bits of spittle showering the air from his frustration.

The frightening part was when he smiled. The air became sickeningly sweet before turning wretchedly putrid, strangling Bonnie. The siphoning started next. This feeling was familiar thanks to Kai but also different. It wasn't just her magic. She could feel her power but also her strength and the connection to nature funneling out of her, leaving an aching void where it used to be. Her knees gave out, her limb strength having been pulled away too. She crumbled to the ground at the psycho supernatural's feet.

Adonis bent down over her, cracking his neck back and forth as the vitality swelled within him. "That was quite a rush." The voice was feminine now and giddy with happiness. The contradiction of woman voice with man body made Bonnie's situation even more disconcerting.

"I'm buzzing pretty good and feeling a little more like myself again. Thank you for that, Bonnie was it? No wonder you are the one to break the curse, tapping into you was like putting my lips on a powder keg. I think your blood is going to be just as electric."

Bonnie's vision blurred, became pale grey around the edges. The grey turned to white and little by little the white swallowed her entire vision.


	7. Chapter 7

Damon was itching to go. He hated not being by Bonnie's side. Resented the fact that he couldn't physically have her back so he did the next best thing. Left his baby at the nearest gas station and got close enough to the woods where he could hear the barest whisper of her voice. She was talking to Stefan on the phone. He couldn't hear what his brother had to say but assumed it was in line with the planning they had done the night before, after he had left. He probably should have stuck around for that but being in the room with Bonnie and not being alone with her had been troublesome. Three times he had nearly yelled for everyone but his little witch to get the hell out of his house so he could talk to her. Maybe molest her. When she volunteered to put her life on the line as she always did it locked his heart in a vice. His feelings for her were bothersome. But also simplistic in the most beautiful way. There was no sire bond between them, no prior Stefan conflicted love, no people wearing her face that he had history with. He had never slept with her mom. She was ideally the perfect choice for a lack of that chaos. He had always believed the conflict made things spicier, real, better, epic. He hadn't realized how very epic it was just to share moments of silence with her, not needing to fill the moment with hurried lust or a spout of obsessed verabage. It had to be boring living everyday life like mortals right? Then why had it felt like every sparing wit session was life pure and true, every quiet moment passed like breathing, a sweet necessity. And the night he spent being wrapped up in her? It surpassed every ideal of just how good drowning not just in, but with someone could be?

He knew Bonnie thought it was just one night. At first he had also lied to himself about it being the same. What a joke. She was in his blood. In his heart.

He didn't want to think too hard on that, on the connotations of what it meant for his future.

His thoughts pulled back to the now, to her leaving a message on Caroline's phone about how much of a jerk he was. Her feisty grouching brought a smile to his face. There was a long pause of silence before he heard her speak again.

"You don't happen to have a car do you? It's been a really bad night and I could use a ride." There was a wispy quality to her voice but no traces of fear. Damon listened more intently. It wouldn't do to scare some poor bystander who happened into their trap. Bonnie would just chew him for it later. He didn't hear a response from the second person.

"What are you?" Her speech was sluggish. Damon took off in her direction in a heartbeat. Moments after running toward her, he heard her babble some gurgled Latin. Heard a man's tortured curse of "Witch." And knew his Bonnie was sharing her bad-assness with someone. The humor fell away as the flow of rest of the conversation fell on his ears. Adrenalin pushed away the naughty cocooning fragrance as Damon neared Bonnie's heartbeat. After the initial breath Damon held off taking in more air.

Making it to the location, fear ate at his core. In a blink Damon's sight took in Bonnie lying unconscious in front of a crouching blond haired man who spoke like a woman. The guy had a moment long enough to nick the side of her neck and state that he needed "Just one taste but I'm going to drain you to be sure. However, you're too pretty to mutilate like the others." before he bulldozed the stranger away from Bonnie and into the nearest tree. The idiot had the nerve to lick Bonnie's blood off his finger. To Damon's disbelief he became a she who looked very similar to Bonnie.

"What the hell?" tumbled out of Damon's mouth.

"I know you like what you see. I can be everything she was and more. Well except for the witch part. I had no idea I'd have a vampire boyfriend in this body."

"What body? You look a lot like her but you aren't her. Your darker, your hair is longer your voice is off. If you were trying to duplicate Bonnie you failed." Caroline spoke from over the very pissed off vampire's shoulder.

"Nice of you to join us Blondie." Damon growled.

"Sorry but the smell knocked me down for a sec. Stefan heard me fall so he came and carried me out of 'Cone of Smelly' until I could get my bearings."

Before Damon could begin shredding his brother over his lack of coming to rescue Bonnie, the captive spoke.

"Wait. You mean I look like me? I'm me! I'm back to being me. But it won't last unless I drain her blood! Get off me."

"She's stronger than she looks." Damon grunted under her struggles.

"It's because I'm hyped up on your precious Bonnie's magic. She's going to die anyway. I drained her health and her magic. You might as well save me. I could be a lot of fun."

"She's a different kind of Vampire Damon." Stefan said, having taken Caroline spot beside his brother while the blond held Bonnie close to her, trying to feed her some blood.

"Yeh but I bet she can die the same way." He plowed the wooden stake Stefan slapped into his open palm through the heart of the would be Bonnie. They watched as she flailed and screamed before turning into a gritty dust that piled up on the ground below where she had been forced against the tree.

Seeing Bonnie, excess blood gleaming unswallowed on her lips, body flopped against Caroline much like a child carried a rag doll, twisted Damon's insides in knots. He pulled his little witch from a reluctant Caroline who had tears pouring from her eyes like a sieve.

"She's breathing but barely. She's icy, like she's been next to an iceberg for hours. I hoped when you took out that thing her powers and life would come flooding back but it hasn't. What…What if this is really it?" Caroline pause on a hiccup. Stefan pulled her to him and tugged her away.

"Don't do this to me again Bonnie. How many times are you going to make me chase you? Make me bring you back."

Bonnie woke up naked on a cloud of white. Heat surrounded her from head to toe. Who knew clouds could spoon you in heaven. Who knew witches ended up in heaven. Moving her body into a stretch she felt a shot of pain rush from head to toe. "Definitely not heaven." She mumbled.

"That's not something I have ever heard a girl say in my bed before." Damon teasingly muttered while curling up tighter around her body again, his noticeable male hardness pressing against the curve of her posterior.

How could she have forgotten the second time of getting naked and ending up in bed with an equally naked Damon? She peeped her eyes open and took in the room. Two of the four candles her grams had given her were lit in two of the four corner she could spy without moving too much.

"I heard her. I heard Bonnie Stefan."

The excited voice was the only warning before Caroline bust through the door, eyes scanning for the open eyes of her best friend. When the green orbs also searched back for her, the perky vamp let loose a squeal and plunged herself onto the bed.

Bonnie giggled through the pain. Caroline soon notice there were two very nude people hiding under the covers. She scrambled away as quick as she could without using vamp speed.

"Gross Damon, I know you said you were going to warm her up but you didn't need to go so far as to strip down with her. You should have let her get conscious. So she could turn you down. I like the redecorating. Kudos on the new bed. It's the same gargantuan size but I like the headboard and it sets a little higher. Wait why did you get a new bed when your old one was perfectly fi…" Stefan gave her arm a hard yank that propelled her out of the room.

"I'm sure Bonnie could use something to eat she's been asleep almost 48 hours." He closed the door with a soft click behind them.

Neither the witch nor vampire spoke for a moment.

"How long have you been in the bed with me?" It was easier to speak when she didn't have to look at him, didn't have to expose the feelings she was fiercely pushing down.

"Just about since we got you back here, you were nearly frozen." Damon's plaintive tone sounded behind her, sharing the worry he had felt while he waited to see if she would fight her way back.

"How did my candles get here?" She whispered.

"I remember you telling me about them, about how they relax and center you. I know you have a fondness for candles and thought subconsciously you might find them calling to you." Now his tone was rueful, the hard vampire had been caught being thoughtful.

"Damon?"

"Last question Bonnie. You need more sleep and then you need to eat."

"Why did you buy a new bed?"

His voice was so soft she had to strain to hear it. "I had hoped to share it with you, if I could talk you back into it. A place where no other woman had been before.

This isn't exactly what I had been thinking of."

** FYI I pushed two chapters because of the lack of Bamon. I wanted to kind of do a slice of life for the show, kind of the creature of the week centered on Bonnie. I always wanted to play around with the dynamics of the people on the show. I really want to see some Bonnie-Caroline friendship in the new season so I wrote a little of it here. Hope you still found the story entertaining. As always thank you all for your likes and comments. And to the one person who offered to Beta for me, thank you very much but once I finish a chapter I get too anxious to post it... I would have NO patience to submit it for fixing first. heh.


	8. Chapter 8

"Bonnie." Damon growled low and deep with a threatening stretch of her name. Foresty eyes snapped open wide in alarm. He was curled tight around her, his check pressed to her head. His mouth was close enough she felt the cool whisper of his breath against her ear as he spoke.

"If you don't stop rubbing your little tush into my aching cock you won't see a drop of food let a lone a whole pancake. I know you like to cause me pain but this is mean, even for you."

"Sorry" She whimpered, recent sleep putting a clamp on her vocal cords making her the word come out husky. But she couldn't stop, the dream had left her near orgasm. Arching her back she pulled the naked curve of her posterior along his hard ridge. There was no warning from behind. He pulled her leg back over his hip. The long stiff smooth rod slid eagerly along the new valley created by the adjustment of her thighs. She was far past wet as his thickness rested in the gap between her slickened lips. He gave a gentle but passionate pull back and thrust forward, using her open petal to nest against. The mushroom head pressed over her clit and sent a shiver along her backbone. The accompanying gasp from her lips fell like music to Damon's ears.

In a distant echo Damon heard a pair of nearing footsteps, could smell orange juice and toast. It barely distracted him from the feel of Bonnie's slick lips cupping him, from the little puffs of air she let out while his hands rubbed her hip, his pelvis rocked against the back of her. The beckoning call of her honey warmth holding him like a cashmere glove grabbed his attention. As good as it felt he anticipated the deeper sweetness of bottoming out in her. The steps were just feet away from his door.

"So help me Stefan if you let your little blond Terrier come in this room again you'll never find the body!"

Bonnie's lovely arching body froze in front of him and internally he called both his brother and blondie names for their timing, but called himself every kind of fool for opening his mouth and breaking the mood. Maybe they would have gone away had they stopped to listen to the tale - tale sounds ricocheting of the walls of his room.

"He can't tell me when I can or can't see my best friend! Besides Stefan I'm worried. She needs to east something and explain what the hell happened." Barked Barbie.

"Ever stop to think she might be hungry from something else Caroline?" Stefan derided darkly.

A dainty snort. "With Damon?!" She exclaimed then seemed to ponder in brief silence. "Oh crap with Damon... " She yelled the next part "Um come down to eat when you're ready Bon!"

Stefan's laughter trailed off as the two retreated the way they came.

The tableau of the bedroom eased into movement as Bonnie tugged the sheet tight around her and made a lunge for the very distant edge of the bed. Just how much space did the man need when sleeping? The vampire's cobra reflexes went into action, latched onto the sheet and left one mocha leg exposed to his lecherous gaze.

"Come on Bonnie." He whined, giving a quick yank to the 1000 thread count cotton.

"Do you want an aneurism this early in the morning?" She was pushing down the desire to giggle so she refused to look at him.

With a heartbroken groan Damon released the sheet, a long suffering sigh escaped just after it fluttered to cover the last of that tantalizing leg. Bonnie's compact body dropped off the edge of the bed. She cast a quick glance behind her, caught a good eye full of naked Damon Salvatore. His eyes ate her up and left her pulse firing rapidly. She should have been ashamed to admit that it took major strength of will not to take up the come hither look in his eyes, in the promise of his lean frame. She couldn't pull her sight away quick enough before seeing him shoot her a burning wicked wink.

"You sure you don't want to..."

"No!" She cut him off and stomped quickly to the bathroom, expensive white sheet dragging behind her like a train.

The pale soft material looped low over her back, brushing against her even softer tawny skin and dark locks tightened his stomach. As good as she looked with his bedding tied around her she looked much better out of it.

"Why are you covered up? We both know I have seen every beautiful inch of..."

A fast slam of the bathroom door sent Damon into fits of belly laughs.

"Someone's cranky when she doesn't get some!'

Behind the closed door Bonnie smothered a smile as the pink tinged of a blush rolled up over her apple cheeks.

Later at the dining table there was much giggling and laughter. The three vampires must have picked up the good mood of their favorite witch. To be alive and safe spilled over into her every action.

Food had been fixed then consumed in a leisurely pace while Bonnie had unloaded the events that had transpired with her attacker. The moment she has plopped down at the breakfast table and witchy-lit the single votive with a glance, the tenseness in the room had receded for everyone. She explained how for a few minutes vampire 2.0 had mentally locked with her while she/he siphoned her energy. It had once been a normal human woman named Callie who had played her boyfriend (a witch) Jeremiah like a fool. She had been caught with another man. As punishment Callie had been doomed to spend an extended life seeking others life forces or feel an aching gnawing hunger that was never satisfied. She would also live out her life trapped in the body of someone as unlike herself (who she loved most of all) as possible – a golden haired male. Jeremiah was dark and had a dark humor to match.

Cursed to have people be attracted to her and rendered powerless from such a potent smell made it easy to feed. Concerned as always in regards to self-preservation she began mauling the bodies. Time made life lonely for Callie and she began seeking a mate. Her x witch had thought of that. No matter how much a person was attracted to her they would never love and always leave her. Wanting to put an end to her existence of solitude she spent the last few years seeing the woman fabled to exist, mockingly spoke of in the last parting shot of Jeremiah.

Under the conclusion that she was one of a kind and now dead the conversation had ebbed to both Salvatore siblings taking about the inane things they did as kids. Occasionally Damon's jubilation would dim when talking about his father. Bonnie would rush to share a story about her and Caroline, then Elena. Despite the momentary haunted look Damon wore during her first story about her sleeping friend it didn't change the euphoric mood in the room. Singularly they came to realize it was ok to talk about Elena, cleansing even like shining light in a centuries long stagnant room. The banter didn't revolve around her, she was now part of a whole not THE whole. One of many beams to hold up a structure not the corner stone. Eventually the group grew stiff from setting in the kitchen chairs for over three hours so they adjourned to the living room.

Caroline took up a spot on Stefan's welcoming lap, Bonnie curled on her end of the couch, Damon took up space on his end. Talk of childish antics gave way to verbal combative fighting over the best movies in history. Sometime in Stefan's windy discourse on why books are far superior to the silver screen; Damon had chased Bonnie down to her end of the couch. He side butted flush against her back, his arm draped along the couch top beside her head while she faced away from him to look toward the blathering Stefan. Bonnie outwardly seemed oblivious to the closeness of bad boy Salvatore; inwardly she wished she had let him persuade her into breaking in his new bed. At this point it felt eerily naturel to lay her head down on is arm. So she did.

"Soooo is this," Caroline gave an insinuating flick of her hand toward the vamp-witch duo, "a thing now?"

"No." Bonnie chimed lifting her head from his sinewy bicep at the same time Damon gave a firm "Yes" and drew his lonely arm tight around her, gently crossing over and smooshing her pert breast.

Stefan and Caroline shared mutual implying smiles.

"What?!" Damon grouched. He was putting on a show because Bonnie had actually snuggled into his side. Her mouth might be saying no but her body and hopefully her heart was saying yes. It was hard to be his normal cantankerous self when she was falling into him.

"Sounds like you have some things to discuss." Caroline said.

"That would be none of your business blondie." Damon said with a smirk.

Bonnie changed the subject.


	9. Chapter 9

As weeks passed Damon and Bonnie fell into a rhythm. They hung out together a lot. They kissed a lot. They bickered, a lot. To much degree things hadn't changed. Damon was still a cynical vampire who drank from the vein. Bonnie didn't ask him to change and he didn't offer to. Not once did he take a human to the brink of death. He took enough to sate but not enough to over indulge, well not often. He still swung back liquor and took verbal stabs at Caroline, darkly teased his brother, said things just to annoy Bonnie. If his usual crushing comments lacked some acidity and he was caught smiling more, no one made a big deal out of it.

Bonnie became use to the flirty treatment Damon dished her way. She grew even more comfortable with flirting back. She had zero problems with curling up on his end of the couch, falling asleep on his chest and not freaking out when she woke up wrapped in his arms. Damon was never openly demonstrative; his affection was shown by an escorting hand at the curve of her back when they went places, or under the table stroking her knee when they sat side by side at a diner. He stuck to calling her Bon or Bon Bon, 'Bonnie' was reserved for expression of irritation or arousal, occasionally during heated make out sessions 'my little witch' would be ground out in a grunt. It would have been strange for him to call her by some common pet name. There was no pressure to get her back in his bed but he made known it's exactly where he wanted her. Perhaps the most perfect example of just how Damon was feeling about Bonnie was his eyes never appraised another girl, his mouth turned them down, his posture always seeked her out when she was in the same room but not next to him. It wasn't that he didn't notice when a woman was attractive, it was just that it was a flicker of attention before his sight and mentality pull back to Bonnie subconsciously.

For Bonnie's part she trusted Damon more than any other person in the world. He was her best friend but she knew one should not kiss their best friend the way she kissed him, one should not want to keep her best friend hand cuffed to the bed while she tongued him until he broke through his bonds, tossed her down on the bed and fixed the perpetual ach she had between her legs. She daydreamed every single day of slipping him in her mouth. Night dreamed about him reciprocating.

Back at the Salvatore boarding house while pouring a generous glass of bourbon Damon was having very similar thoughts as well. He was desperately trying not to dwell on just how right she felt molded to him. Knowing that despite wanting Bonnie again he had struggled shut down his need to go down that path again, he was holding back for so many reasons. His conflicted feelings made him want to beat the pulp out of someone, anyone. So distracted was he that he didn't catch someone had entered the room with him.

"Ok, I'm tired of waiting. What is going on with you and Bonnie?" Caroline popped off.

"I knew I should have changed the locks." Damon tossed over his shoulder without turning around.

"I mean it Damon. Strangely enough I catch myself repetitively thinking that you are good for each other."

Turning with brows lifted in surprise Damon muttered "That must have killed you to say."

"You have no idea."

"Does my brother know you are here?"

"Of course not he told me to stay out of it."

"Hm who knew he was capable of some good advice… for those who choose to listen."

"Spare me Damon. I'm not here to talk about Stefan. I'm here to talk about your plans with Bonnie."

Damon leaned back casually against the table crossing his long legs at the ankle, giving the air that he wasn't disturbed by the flaxen haired Valkyrie trying to chew him up. She didn't know how very close to the chained rabid dog she was wandering.

"You realize this is none of your business."

"Someone has to watch out for her. We ALL made her suffer in the past. She sacrificed herself time after time for everyone. And as much as she has changed and has started looking out for herself she's still the most fragile of us."

"You be the one to tell one of the most powerful witches that she's fragile," he paused to take a sip of the amber liquid in his glass "I dare ya."

"I know you're an ass but don't play dumb. Her history with men is horrendous."

"I'm impressed horrendous is in your vocabulary but go on." He tilted his head imperiously at her.

"Her dad abandoned her, her one real boyfriend practically cheated on her with a ghost and almost every guy used her for or get to Elena. You are probably using her as your last link with Elena yoursel.."

He was on her in a blink, he held her a foot off the ground, hands around her throat just enough to keep her from finishing her bitchy words. When he spoke it was deadly tranquil. There was a lunatic dancing behind his icy blue eyes.

"I realize you care about her but let's get something straight. Bonnie Bennett is no place holder for anyone. I will kill anyone who tries to use her for any other means than to just to rub some of her goodness onto them." He dropped her but stared her down with menace.

She glared back at him while rubbing her neck tenderly. Her movements slowed then stopped. "Oh my God. You love her."

Damon's glacial gaze burned colder, eyes narrowed with threat. "This conversation is over and I suggest you keep this talk to yourself." He chugged the rest of his bourbon, slammed the glass down on the table and went in search of his witch, changed his mind and went looking for Stefan.

-/-

Bonnie arrived at the Salvatore boarding house at five til seven. Damon had shown up at her home around eleven that morning and issued an invitation for a date. Well it had been more like him standing at her door, sun glasses on and an irate pinched look on his face. "You me, Godfather marathon seven o'clock, you bring the popcorn." Dumbfounded she had mumbled an ok. Then he had stomped off her deck, hoped in his car and took off. She knew something had been eating at him and he wanted to find the words to talk to her about it. Dreading that it was a talk about their burgeoning closeness, she felt rattled. She immediately called Caroline to help her figure out what to wear and help her decipher Damon's agitation. Caroline was distracted and acting weird on the phone but she promised she would be there in two hour to help her figure it out. Feeling even more twisted up about the oddness of Caroline and Damon, Bonnie did something she couldn't ever remember being comfortable doing. She called Stefan. Even he had been a bit edgy but eventually their short communique led to a dead end.

When Caroline arrived she was even more animated than normal. She helped Bonnie pick out a knee length black lacy dress. Bonnie argued that it wasn't a date date but Care insisted so she caved. When her blond bestie demanded on curling her hair in soft waves that compliment her now longer brunet tresses, apply some black kohl to accentuate her green catlike eyes and smooth on some crimson lipstick, Bonnie figured it would be easier not to fight her and just go with the flow. She smothered the part of her that wanted to look sexy for Damon. The part that wished things with Damon was a little more set in stone. As an unexpected finishing touch Care had handed her an insulated carrier with a bottle of chilling Riesling inside.

"I hope you don't mind but I let myself in as usual." She offered as she glided into the room. Damon was bent over rifling a poker through the fire place wood. His black jeans pulled tight to his caves as he squatted. The material of his matching ebony fitted t-shirt looked downy to the touch but the way it clung to his chest and his biceps made her prefer to touch him.

"Casa de Salvatore is always open to" He has finally got a look at all the lusciousness that was Bonnie Bennett. His pink tongue poked out and swiped over his suddenly dry lips. His normally artic irises turned liquid silver as he drank her in from head to boots.

"I brought the popcorn as requested.

"So you did." He stood up, leaned the poker on its rest without taking his gaze off her.

"I'll just go into the kitchen and get it started." She could feel his eye follow her as she left. That settled that. Care had totally overdressed her.

Shifting his already swelling cock Damon knew it was going to be a long night.

It had already been a long day. After he had left Caroline he had sought out his brother. His intention was to condemn him for the actions of his girlfriend. It had definitely started that way. Once the door had been opened he had veered straight for where Liz had kept her secret stash. Caroline must not have found it yet because it was exactly where his old friend had left it complete with a pair crystal cups as if knowing one day he would need it. So of course he toasted the iron lady Liz Forbes first before setting his sights on demolishing the rest of the bottle without prejudice. He was still smarting over the conversation with the younger Forbes.

"Damon what are you doing here?"

"Hey, she can came barging into my house. I figure it's only fair if I do the same." He offered a wan smile.

"What did she do now?" Stefan gave a long suffering sigh but the spark behind his eyes belied his affection for the debutant he had finally made his.

"She had the nerve to ask my intentions of Bonnie." Damon growled through clinched teeth.

"What are your intentions with Bonnie?"

"Eu Tu Stefan?'

"It's a valid question Damon."

For a long minute neither brother spoke again.

Stefan was the first to breach the pregnant pause. "I suppose it would be impossible for you to love Bonnie."

Damon's back stiffened up and his eyes flashed daggers at his brother.

"Why do you say that?" He tried to play it off as a casual query but something in him rebelled against the matter-of-fact statement made by Stefan.

"I'm not saying Bonnie isn't pretty awesome in her own right but you my brother have a type. I don't think she meets those standards."

"What standers would those be?" Damon asked deceptively calm. Something about his brother making Bonnie out to be lesser was really pissing him off for some reason.

Stefan merely offered a shrug before speaking again. "I'm not denying there is some affection between you. Caroline said I would have to be blind not to notice the tension between you two but you aren't consumed by her. That is how you have always seen major attraction that forms into love. In comparison to the women you have passionately loved Bonnie is just sort of, sweet."

"Are you kidding? Bonnie is a badass of the first order. She might come off as sweet, she can be, but I swear sometimes she has snow in her witchy veins. I've never met a woman who can verbally slap me the way she does, infuriate me to no end. She drives me crazy. I'm thinking about her all the time. What is she doing, why isn't she doing it with me, is she at least having a good time, is she happy, what can I do to make her smile, how can I not hurt her? When that **thing** laid her out it scared the hell out of me. Any maybe I don't feel the constant need to be all over her and be distracted from everything to get into her pants but that doesn't mean she isn't worthy." Noticing he had gone off on a mini rant, Damon practically bit his lip to keep from talking.

To busy his hands Damon handed Stefan the second drinking glass.

"Maybe it means she's more worthy?" Stefan offered with inquisitive eyes.

"Crap." He poured them both a shot then considered his glass and poured himself a double. "Drink with me brother," He clinked his cup to Stefan's and offered a self-deprecating smile, "Apparently I'm in love."

-/-

Having still been fired up from Caroline's audacity and the discovery of just what his feelings were, Damon had felt a mad rush to see Bonnie, to tear down the wall he has been building to keep her from digging in any deeper. It was too late; her roots had dug under his wall. Finding out that it wasn't just that he wanted to bang his best friend until she walked bow legged for a week but that his feeling ran so much deeper than her hold on his libido left him dazed and scared. So in true Damon fashion when fear is involved he ran straight at it, straight at her, then issued high handed orders. When she didn't fight him about coming over it really threw him off. The little witch had really gotten to him. Now she was in his kitchen in that lacy black number. That dress was tickling his imagination. Tonight was going to be hell.

Bonnie set the padded wine cooler on the counter. She hadn't even had a chance to tell him about Caroline's gift. Damon had always had a mercurial mood but the greeting had been odder than normal. He had been both reserved and seemed to eye her like she was Little Red Riding Hood on display in front the big bad wolf.

Pealing the cellophane off she stuffed the popcorn package in the microwave. Hearing it whirl on she went in search of a large bowl. It _would_ be up so high she had to stretch on tip toe to reach it!

"Despite interrupting the view, do you want some help?"

She didn't dwell on the 'view' comment. "Nah, I can get it." Stretching a final time she nabbed the bowl and turned around to find Damon right in front her. She daftly watched as he pulled his eyes away from her thighs. The dress must have hiked up in the back when she has been reaching for the bowl.

Damon placed his hands on the counter to either side of her.

"Maybe one day you'll learn to ask for help." He leaned in close to her, mindful of keeping his pelvis away.

Bonnie squirmed under his molten platinum orbs scanning her lips. "Maybe I didn't want help."

"Maybe I want to give it to you anyway." The double entendre was of course intended. He moved closer and she couldn't help but tilt her head up just a bit. She could feel his breath brush over her upturned face.

The microwave chose that moment to go off. Damon didn't move, didn't flinch. The moment was so charged if someone struck a match the house would explode.

Bonnie pressed her suddenly clammy palms against his chest to back him off and hustled over to grab the popcorn.

"Not sure what's wrong with Caroline but she told me to share what's in the cooler koozie with you. I'm not so sure it will go well with buttered popcorn. She said she was going to send a bottle of aged port but Stefan told her to grab this one. I guess he told her 'something sweet can sometimes pare well with something salty.'" She said while busily shaking the contents into her hard fought for bowl.

Damon smiled to himself over the satire that was Stefan Salvatore.

Every time she shifted on the couch the lacy skirt would shrink another inch before lowering down a half inch back in place. She was wrapped up in the movie and had no idea the effect watching that creamy leg was having as it played a game of peek-a-boo with him.

Bonnie was warring internally. Damon had started something in the kitchen. It was nothing for them to have an occasional heated make out session, always started by him but she always felt he was holding something back. A defense had been fallen when he had pinned her to the counter that had been constructed since their night together.

She had only had one glass of wine, which had been delicious with the salty buttery fluff of the popped corn. It had been just enough to relax her mind. Her body was a whole other matter. That torrid night in her bed had only made her want more, crave much more. It was a dangerous game she played; falling in love with her best friend knowing full well his heart belonged to someone else. That one night they spent together had only exacerbated the problem. She had wanted him anyways. Was it so wrong to have him for a moment and when she dispersed, when Elena came back he would still love the last of the doppelgangers so it's not like she was getting Damon to alienate his feelings for Elena.

Elena may not be happy if he tells her about his and Bonnie's time together but it's not like she could eventually yell at Bonnie about it. Bonnie actually suspected Elena would almost be relieved that they had found something in her absence, even because of her. Despite their ups and downs Bonnie truly felt that Elena loved her and wanted her to be happy. It was crazy and insane and farfetched but fighting Damon, siding with Damon even loving Damon made Bonnie happy. Elena may not be happy at knowing this but should she find out the depths of Bonnie's feelings for Damon she would get over it, eventually.

Bonnie would take something for herself. If she couldn't have him all at least she could have some and Damon would never lie to her about his emotions or lack of them. It was one of the things she loved about him, how brutally honest with her he has always been.

Leaning down to slide her empty wine glass on the table she tugged her skirt up passed her knees and turned toward Damon. Exposing the swell of her breasts as she bent forward giving him a good eye full before she mounted him much like one would do a horse. She placed herself straddled over him before she could change her mind. Damon's hands came to rest at the swell of her hips. When she curled forward to kiss him, Damon held nothing back in their lip lock, dove into the heat of her mouth with possession.

It wasn't long before her hands burrowed into the midnight locks at the base of his nape and she rocked on top of him, rubbing her scent through the thin fabric of her satin panties into the rough braid of his jeans.

Damon was moaning into her mouth. His hands slipped under the lace to caress up and down the soft skin from knee to waist. In the background Michael Corleone felt the sensation of being struck by lightning as he spied Apollonia for the first time but the imaginary bolt didn't burn half as hot at the two people on the couch trying to be part of each other. There were too many clothes between them but they refused to separate. Bonnie sucked at his tongue mocking the way her other lips had clamped down around him and rubbed her sensitive bud against his noticeable hardness. The rolling of her hips quickened, grating uncontrollably down on him. She has become lost in his mouth and to the touch of his hands increasing the grip of her thighs.

Damon broke the kiss on a curse. "I can't. If you keep riding me like that I'm going to spill in my jeans." With a cocky smile Bonnie slipped her hands between them, unbuckling and unzipping his pants. The instant the opening was made his erection pushed out. The purr that fell from Bonnie's lips nearly flayed Damon on the spot. Using vampire strength he snapped loose her underwear in seconds, tossed the shredded material into the floor before finding the little nubbin between her legs and working it masterfully for just a few moments. When her mewling became too much he cupped her bare behind and lifter her up over him. He stopped with the leaking tip of his cock poised at her entrance; let her glide over him in an unhurried hesitation so different than the frantic jostling over him she had been doing a minutes ago. When she fully lodged him deep he cried out her name and held her still. She could feel him shockingly swell even more, felt his length wiggle inside her. Bonnie arched her back, mouth ajar as she let her own gurgle of pleasure out into the air.

Damon pressed his mouth to the column of her neck, moaned into her skin while she bounced slowly on top of him. He left one hand under her bottom to help lift her, moved the over back to the juncture of her thighs, thumb finding and parting the slick folds looking for her stiff little clit again. The gasp and the quick buck let him know he was touching her just right, filling her just right. He could tell she was getting close when she started grinding against his hand. His hips thrust up into her, needing to get just a little deeper into her tightness. His teeth throbbed to sink into her skin, he held back to just a nibble.

The burn started, spread down through her stomach and pulsed from every inch Damon touch inside her. He stretched her perfectly, lining up flawlessly with her walls. Pulses of fire gripped her. She was so close to the edge, teetering on the precipice of utopia. He must have sensed it because he gave her clit a loving pinch. The slender fingers wrapped in his locks tugged tight, yanking his head back as she yelled out his name.

Watching Bonnie come apart around him set Damon off and plunging twice more inside her made his eyes nearly cross. He had needed her so bad, yearned for her. Feeling the rewarding clinch of making her go over had been all it for him to go right after. He felt the tightening, that pleasure-pain burn causing his cock to jerk while stream after stream of his essence gush inside her.

"Damn." His voice was raspy but still laced with desire. He pulled both his hands off her, slid one into her hair, stuck the fingers of the other in his mouth licking her flavor off before he used his grip in her hair to pull her in for a kiss.

"Was that round one?" She said through a pant.

He lifted them both off the couch still imbedded deep in her. Her legs instantly wrapped around his back. His husky laugh made her muscles bare down on him.

"Mm we are just getting started." He stated through choked laughter

In a crypt with a slumbering beauty a spell began to weaken.

**Tried to post this yesterday, had other ideas. Thanks as always for reading, reviewing and hopefully (and especially) enjoying.**


	10. Chapter 10

Bonnie snuggled into Damon's warmth, curled her head into the curve of his neck. There was something wondrous about lying on his hard body while cocooned in the softness of his ridiculously expensive sheets. He looked luscious with his porcelain skin set off by clouds of black silk bedding slung low over his hip.

As if it had a mind of its own her hand made some lazy glides from chest to stomach. She took a moment to admire the skin contrast before her lips latched on to give a fierce tug where his neck met his collar.

"Jeeze woman, it's been almost six months, you have to let me rest sometime." His normally velvety chocolate voice was more whisky due to sleep and the lecherous yet playful underline.

She gave his chest a reprimanding swat. He grabbed the offending weapon and held it over his heart while he gave a raspy chuckle.

"I wasn't starting anything. Care and I have a date." She offered before trying to crawl away from him. A restraining arm pinned her to his side. With a pressing hand to her back, his free hand smoothed the loose tresses from her eyes and his thumb brushed over one of her high cheek bones. Blue eyes caressed her in quiet for a moment before they opened comically wide.

"Date?! Trading me in for a new model already? This is the quickest I've been dumped. It's the ONLY time I've been dumped. What does Blondie have that I don't?" There was heavy mocking humor in his tone and in the sensual curve of his smile. Bonnie had a Herculean of a time pushing down the 'I love you' that fought and teeter on her lips. It always rushed to come out when he showed his silly relaxed side.

"Mmm better yet," in a flash he rolled her underneath him, fitting his hips between her legs with only a sheet with separation. He gave a quick tug of the silk to get it out of the way. "let me show you what I have and exactly how good I am at using it." He slid home inside her, strangling whichever sassy denial she could drum up because she arched up to meet him. Neither moved for several heartbeats. Bonnie cupped his face with one hand while she ran her fingers through the long bangs falling over his brow. It was the whole reason he let his hair get a little shaggy in the front. She looked lovingly up at him and it took everything Damon had not to confess how she owned every single inch of him, good and bad, body and soul.

The lovemaking that followed was just that – a culmination of everything they felt, that they kept buried, placed on display expressed through action.

-/-

It happens two days shy of Bonnie and Damon's six month anniversary mark.

They were all gathered around the kitchen table, it was a usual Saturday morning in the Salvatore Manor. Caroline was glued tight to Stefan while they shared a breakfast plate. Bonnie was perched on Damon's lap picking food off her own plate but snipping what she desired off of Damon's. The conversation flowed smoothly. Caroline was commenting on the new pajama set Bonnie had on. Everyone wore their nightclothes to the breakfast table. At some point it had become an unwritten rule once Caroline has spotted Damon in only his black satin sleeper pants and demanded he put a shirt on. There was an underline of friendship between the four where they secretly loved being comfortable enough to share the morning meal together while draped in leisure clothes. It was the rare moment of calm and harmony amidst that esoteric life of being a supernatural in Mystic Falls.

Bonnie plucked a strawberry of Damon's plate despite having three left on her own.

"I see the only reason you love me is because I let you take the best stuff off my plate." He derided cheekily, a small teasing grin fixed prominently on his mouth.

Instead of stiffening in his lap or snapping at him like he expected, she turned to face him with the sweetest most beautiful yet bashful smile to ever bend over her lips and spoke loud and clear, "Not exactly."

Every atom inside Damon seized before firing all at once. The teasing smirk slid off his face. In a flicker he had her straddling him. "Is that your way of saying you love me?" The smile on the elder Salvatore brother was not cocky; it was a mix of disbelief, relief and hope. His eyes searched her face looking for traces of sarcasm or forbid her change of heart and a desire to take it back.

Stefan's phone went off. Caroline punched him in the leg under the table. Damon turned from soft to vicious and scornful in a blink.

"Really Stefan you can't go one day without your phone being on? I'm having a VERY important conversation here." He grouched as Stefan rose from the table to take the call.

Stefan only stumbled a few steps away as he notice just who was calling.

Bonnie giggled which brought burning blues back to her. "This is far from over." Damon warningly promised. Before he could say more the snippets of Stefan's conversation pulled everyone's attention.

The demeanor of everyone in the room changed as the impact of the topic seeped in.

-/-

Two separate cars were taken. Bonnie volunteered to ride with Caroline, the brothers rode together.

"You know this doesn't change anything Bon." Caroline began.

"No Care, it changes everything." Bonnie uttered. Silence prevailed in the cab of the car. Caroline drove with one hand the other clinched comfortingly around Bonnie's wrist.

Things were very much the same in the blue Camaro. It hurt Damon that Bonnie chose to ride with Caroline and not him. It was their job to comfort each other. They had experience and were damn good at it. At the same time he understood she needed to be inside her own head at the moment. With Elena awake things were sliding into place. Everyone expected him to make a choice, but Damon knew there had always been one choice, just as he knew everyone one understood what that answer was.

Stefan wisely kept his silence.

-/-

It took Bonnie nothing to open the barrier that once placed to protect Elena. They crowed around her casket.

The brunet beauty was just as lovely as always. Stefan checked his watch. Minuets passed by before dark lashes fluttered open. Brown eyes singled out each person before moving on to the next and lastly landing on Damon who looked back on her with a teasing smile. "Hey. Made us wait long enough didn't you?"

Inside Bonnie a heart locked up before releasing a sluggish beat.

Elena sat up and gave a long greeting to Caroline before turning to Bonnie and gushing how she was happy to see her because she had thought she never would again. She was already crying when she tuned to Stefan, who helped her out of the casket amidst the group's joyous laughter over the comment of how she would just like to stand for a while.

Caroline slipped a subtle comforting arm around Bonnie's waist and the walked out of the crypt. The two girls stood outside hugging, laughing and crying. The emotional gambit of a roller coaster ride. Soon Stefan joined. No one commented on the absence of the reunited couple. Matt pulled up before long.

"Ill walk you down." Bone stated.

"No ones asking you to be so strong Bon." Whispered her best friend.

The little witch shot her a watery smile as if to say 'I've faced worse' before grabbing Matt's arm and escorting him.

She was brave, she could face anything. Had face death time and time again, others and her own.

"I love you Elena. I'll always love you." Was all Bonnie had to hear before she fractured and bolted out of the crypt leaving Matt behind who rushed to catch up with her. She walked as fast as her stiff legs would carry her. Matt took one glace at her stricken wan face and offered to take her home. Bonnie hugged Caroline in a rushed manner and whispered that she promised to call her. "I promise. Don't worry." She was walking away before distractedly whispering to herself. "I'll call her when I get there. I'll call after I unpack."

That shot a spark of foreboding up Caroline's spine. "What do you mean?" Bonnie kept walking. "Bonnie!" The witch didn't turn around. Not once did she look back at the crypt or Caroline. When the fem vamp went to follow, Stefan put a preventive hand on her shoulder.

"He hurt her. I warned him. I'm going to kill your brother Stefan." Two sad vampires watched Bonnie drive away.

"I know Damon is better than that. But if he did what you think he did I'll help you."

-/-

At the Bennett house Bonnie shut Matt out as quickly as possible without hurting his feelings and began packing and making arrangements. She shot Caroline a text message that said she would call Caroline at some point then turned off her phone.

**Sorry about the delay. Truth is I have already hand written the end of the story, I just haven't had the time to type it up. I know some of you are disappointed that Elena has come back. I will explain my why next chapter. I believe next chapter will be the last, there may be an epilog. Sorry about all the cliffhangers, I promise they are now at an end. Hope you enjoyed the read.


	11. Chapter 11

"You're different, something has changed." Elena pulled back from the hug, something akin to loss in her eyes.

"I've… been seeing someone. I have a relationship with someone."

"I didn't expect you to be a saint Damon. I told you as much. Do you want me to explain the crazy situation to the girl; that your girlfriend is back from the dead? It may be hard for her to take in. But I've been asleep for a long time and I've missed you.. missed being with you…" She ran suggestive fingers over his pectoral muscled then up over his chest.

Damon took a step back, moving far enough that her empty hands dropped down to her sides.

"She understands 'Mystic Falls Trippy' better than you could expect. I've been seeing Bonnie, Elena."

Confusion marred the face that launched a thousand wooden stakes.

"Bonnie? As in My Bonnie, Bonnie Bennett?"

He nodded his head in affirmation, words escaping the normal witty silver tongue.

"Are you saying you love her and not me?"

She wore the 'world ending expression,' one Bonnie once wore when she thought he was leaving her to bleed out on a floor filled with destroyed wedding rabble. He rushed to console her, pinched her shoulders in a more friendly than lovelorn gesture.

"I love you Elena. I'll always love you. But I don't want to be with you, I can't be with you. We talk about how bad we are for each other and vow that we will stop, stop being together but always bounce back to each other and its always more destructive than the last time. You cave to me and I do BAD things. You make excuses for me and I LIKE it. But it's not healthy and it's not good for either of us. I need someone who can stand up to me. I need someone who can stand beside me, not behind me. I _need_ Bonnie. I love Bonnie. I don't want to hurt you Elena. This is just how it is. Obsession and great sex and shared past aren't enough. I never dreamed I'd say that to you. By no means are you not amazing and enough for someone. But that someone is no longer me. I've grown more in the last years I've had with Bonnie than I did my whole life as a vampire.

"But Damon we had a plan to be human together. Grow old together."

"I don't want to grow old Elena. I don't want to lose myself. When I'm with you I'm not me, I'm what you want me to be. When I'm with Bonnie I'm not who I am either, I'm who I want to be. I'm better than me."

The rest of what happened was very much a blur. Elena offered plaintive terse and mopey sighs, balled about how he and Bonnie could do this. Damon said they hadn't been thinking about her, they had been thinking about living. They talked for three hours sitting side by side on the closed lid of the coffin. When the talk petered out all that was left was resolve.

Elena decided what was best for her was to live a life supernatural free. She went to seek out the vervain necklace that had once been her constant companion and asked Stefan to reshape her memories. It began with him, she decided it should end with him. All that was left to do was to make one last phone call.

Bonnie's number went straight to voicemail.

"I really wish you had answered. I really needed to talk to my best friend. You really are you know." Long pause of silence. "I wanted to tell you I don't understand but I accept you and Damon." Breathless wisps of bemused laughter. "Bonnie and Damon, who'd have thought? Look Bon I'm not going to be the same. When Stefan takes some of my memories he's going to implant that we have all grown apart. Jeremy agreed to it because it for my own safety. I want to be happy but I don't know what that is right now. Maybe I'll get a shot at a normal happy life. Never thought I could see normal again. Heh. Anyway I keep talking because I don't want to say goodbye. I made Stefan promise to implant that whenever I see white feathers I will for some reason think fondly of you. Just know that somewhere inside past the hurt and the memory wipe that you are still like my sister.

-/-

Bonnie wanted to run away. It wasn't her style but since this awkward thing with Damon started all she had wanted to do was run. Face death time and time again, sure. Stare down an Original out for blood, no problem. Be the Anchor and experience extreme pain to be able to protect the people she loves, just another day. Explain that she was in love with one cocky, snide, sexy pain in the butt ancient vampire? Run for the flippin' hills! No one and nothing could make her bleed the way he could.

She had packed in a daze, no destination in mind. It wasn't surprising that she would end up at her grams'. Besides being in Damon's arms at the Salvatore estate, it was the most comfortable place.

It was times like now she wished the wise Bennett witch was there to talk to. She probably would have thrown a fit that her granddaughter had gotten so mixed up with a vampire.

She didn't unpack, simply lounged on the couch and stared off into space before falling asleep. An hour passed, then three more before she began making real plans. She wasn't running from something, she was running to it. Her life had been on hold, in a lovely limbo that was spider weave strings connecting her to Damon. It was time to move forward, it would just be by herself. Care was happy with Stefan, Matt had the love of law. Damon had Elena.

Bonnie was going to take the world.

If anyone asked she would smile and say she's fine. She had a ton of practice at that. At least she had time with Damon that would have blown the mind of the person she was a few years ago. She couldn't fault him for going back to Elena, he'd never lied, never said they had always, never promised her anything, let alone forever.

Turning on her phone she found eight missed calls. One from Elena one from Caroline one from Matt and the other five from Damon. There were an inordinate amount of text messages. She ignored every attempt of contact. Damon even called in the middle of the phone call she was making to set her plans into motion.

Meanwhile one very pissed off vampire was railing at Caroline, swearing she knew where his brunette vixen was. She of course did not, as Bonnie had not responded to her call or texts. Stefan threatened to snap his brothers neck if he didn't calm down.

Elena had taken off for her new life. Bonnie was missing and Damon felt like someone dropped a cinderblock on his heart. Worry made him vicious.

"Trust me Damon, I'm happy that I don't have to burry you in a plot of land for hurting Bonnie. But as you know, her phone is off and she hasn't called me yet. She's somewhere safe, probably talking it out in a place she feels close to her Grams. "

"I already checked the cemetery." Epiphany hit and he was out the door without a goodbye.

-/-

It wouldn't be permanent; she would just stay long enough for her heart to mend. Or more so, long enough to perfect her brave face, the one she use to slide on before Damon shattered it.

Setting her suit case on the front porch she left the door open to go gather a few more things and blow out the candles in the parlor room. One last candle set lit by the front door casting its soft luminescence on the leather jacket wearing vampire that leaned against the frame.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Going somewhere?" His voice dripped with barely leashed fury.

When she spoke, the words were snappish and too loud as she was trying to speak over the blood rushing noisily through her ears. "You didn't answer my question."

"And you didn't answer mine!" He snarled.

"I don't have time for this." She grouched at him.

"You're going to make time." His arms crossed firmly over his chest. "So are you coming out or am I coming in?"

A quick wave of her hand brought him slamming into the force field of the open doorway.

"I know you like to play rough _Bonnie_ but that was a bit unnecessary." He growled at her while dusting himself off.

"I'm not inviting you in."

"Then I'll be here all night and all day until you talk to me." He sounded crabby and adamant.

A beat of silence. "You're serious aren't you?"

"Come on out Bon Bon. Come see how serious I am."

Damon was impressed; she hadn't separated his head from his body. She looked manic. All the blood rushing up to stain her cheeks, eyes flashing fiery emerald green, back lit by the candle behind her giving her an ethereal avenging angel appearance and the look on her face said she wanted to rip his heart out and eat it in front of him. She was gorgeous. He was hard. Damn, he was smitten. When he came out after the long talk with Elena and she hadn't been there a little voice began to taunt him. When he tried to call her and she didn't answer, the internal voice turned to agitation, several calls later and a trip to her empty house agitation turned into panic. Vampire Barbie without answers and nearly as worried as he and the panicked gnawing added blind fury to the poison cocktail crawling up from his gut to his chest, right over his heart.

"You know, the old me would just burn the house down. You would have to come out at some point right?" A saucy smile pulled up his sensual lips.

"This is ridiculous." She charged out of the house and grabbed both bags on her way to the car. It took five steps before he was in front of her.

"Why are you here and not smothering Elena?" She side stepped him and began cramming a suit case in the car.

"I see you didn't listen to a single message that was left. You know as my best friend you should be exultant, not on your way out of town." He plucked the suitcase from her nerveless fingers.

"I am happy for you Damon, for both of you really. We can celebrate when I come back and things aren't…weird." She gave the suitcase a tug; it didn't budge from his grasp.

"So you were coming back then?" His tone was layered with disbelief and curiosity. "How long Bonnie? How long were you going to ignore me, us, the things that happened between us?" Apparently he was angry and Bonnie wondered what right he had to be mad, she was doing them all a favor.

"Give." She spoke to him like he was a bad puppy not dropping a toy but in his hand the suitcase remained.

"I need to go Damon they are expecting me."

"Well 'they' are going to have to wait. You aren't going anywhere you are needed here. Elena…"

"Will be just fine WITHOUT ME!" She made to stomp passed him back to the open door of the house; he grabbed her arm and super sped them to the wall beside the door jam. Bodies pressed from pelvis to chest, faces only inches apart as they panted and stared at each other.

"She will, but I won't."

Someone blasted a car horn on the way by.

"Maybe you better come in, we should not be out here for everyone to stare at and I really need to finish getting ready. I'm supposed to be on the road."

His fingers slip into the chocolaty curls of her hair, gently holding her head when she tries to move away.

"You're not supposed to be anywhere but with me." His eyes pierce her soul and make her ache.

"I somehow think your girlfriend won't like that idea."

"I don't know let's ask. Bonnie would you mind if I keep you?" The sensuality gleamed out from halogen orbs but something in Bonnie fought the lurch that responded to his painful teasing.

She slammed both open palms hard into his chest. He stumbled back just enough for her to duck past his arms and head into the house.

"This is not a joke. I deserve better than for you to play with my feelings." He had her pined to the wall in an instant once again, this time the candle shone brightly over the couple.

"No more witchy tricks Bon Bon. If you leave I'll only follow you. We need to talk and after we do if you still want to leave I won't stop you."

"Fine but can we sit on the couch." She arched up to get away which brought her even more flush to him.

"Nooo" He drawled, "I'm pretty happy right here, besides you are less likely to scramble away if I have you right here." His hands tangled once more in the tresses before massaging her tender scalp.

"Tell me why you're leaving."

"You know why."

"Tell me anyway."

"Damon…" "Bonnie tell me."

When her eyes glistened it about broke him.

"Because I fell in love with my best friend." She whispered, eyes staring pasted his right shoulder. "Because I want him to be happy but I can't stay and see him with someone who isn't me." Her eyes turned to him and the fierce Bonnie was back. "I can't stay and watch you be happy without me yet."

She was unexpectantly thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Wha…What are you doing?!"

He paused long enough to blow out the candle and close the door. He spun so she was facing it.

"Lock the door."

"Damon!"

"Lock the door Bonnie! If I'm going to bare my heart I'm doing it on my turf with a bottle of 23 year old Evan Williams within close reach." 

Slightly shell shocked and secretly hopeful she complied. His boots clunked on the wooden porch as he gave her perky bottom a solid swat which made her squeal and flail.

In a blink they were alone at the Boarding house and he set her on 'her' end of the couch. He crouched down in front of her, fireplace lit and casting soft rays behind him.

For a long moment the only sound was the crackle of the flame eating away at the logs. He cupped her face, palm pressed gently to her apple cheek.

"I'm not going to let you go. Because I can't and I don't want to. Because you're a stubborn pain in the…Because I need someone to keep me sane. Because I need to protect someone who can protect herself. Because I need someone to watch trashy nineties moves with and get texts from at two AM with inane questions. Because we are the best ass kicking team the world has ever seen. Because it's nice not having to share the affections of the woman I care about with Stefan. I'm selfish and I'm greedy and I don't want to share you. Because I love you. Always you. You are now and have been for some time my only choice Bonnie Bennett. I love Elena and I want to see her happy. But I also want to be happy. The only way I can be completely happy is with you."

Bonnie said nothing. She only blinked at him like he lost his mind.

"I'm sorry if you thought I would put Elena before you. I should have told you sooner. And I'm sorry if you thought that ever hearing this confession would be so farfetched that it would come with music swelling, a candle lit dinner and some overly choreographed ball room dance. It's just me the eternal stud, bad ass vampire with a temper and a bad attitude who's still becoming a better man because you made me want to be. I promise Bonn.." 

"Shut up Damon." Bonnie kissed her vampire into silence.

Damon laughingly moaned into Bonnie's mouth as he tugged her off the couch. She curled around him like second nature. He carried her half way up the stairs before she broke the kiss long enough to ask what was so funny.

"I finally love someone who's good for me and she's going to stay mine always." Stark sincerity coated every word. "Because I'm hers."

The last fluid thought Bonnie had was to light the elemental candles surrounding the bedroom before Damon's love wiped all thought but him out of her head.

And Bonnie burnt all thought but her out of his.

***Hope the story end was appeasing to you guys/gals. I wanted Elena to come back because I wanted him to truly choose Bonnie. He can't do that if the doppelganger slumbers and the promise of her is always out there painted perfect, stripped of all wrongs, beautiful and just within reach. In other words - the preverbal flawless nonexistent fairytale. When I started writing this story I put a time clock on myself. I wanted it completed before the show came back so the writers couldn't stomp their muddy boots all over my muse. I made it.. if just barely. Thanks for coming along for the ride. I appreciate all of you.


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